The Kerala High Court on Tuesday refused to permit suspended student activists of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit in Kalady to write their examinations. A Division Bench set aside an earlier Single Bench order that had allowed the students to pay fees and sit for tests, ruling that the order violated university regulations. The judgment came on an appeal filed by the university. It leaves 10 of the 16 suspended students unable to appear for exams starting on Wednesday. Tuesday marks 65 days since the students were suspended following a turbulent protest on August 13.

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Syndicate offers conditional pardon

The court verdict comes a day after the university Syndicate accepted a five-member probe committee report on Monday. The Syndicate offered to lift the suspension of twelve students if they provided an unconditional written apology promising to maintain discipline. However, it extended the suspension of four students by two months, accusing them of active organisational involvement during their penalty period based on CCTV footage. The four activists claimed they only entered campus for research work. Rejecting the apology demand, the Students Federation of India (SFI) launched an indefinite relay fast on campus with three suspended activists. The SFI state leadership also urged cultural figures across Kerala to break their silence and support the students.

Clash over protest motives

The university administration stated that CCTV visuals confirmed SFI activists held a mock funeral for Vice-Chancellor Ciza Thomas, who took charge in March. Protesting students denied staging a mock funeral. They maintained they merely performed a play to highlight broken lighting equipment in the Department of Theatre, which they planned to demonstrate again on Tuesday. Refuting this, university officials cited the Theatre Department Head, who confirmed that the equipment was damaged during the 2018 floods, with no complaints submitted between 2018 and March 2026 under four previous Vice-Chancellors.

Political march stopped at campus

Public friction escalated on Monday when the CPM-led Sanskrit University Janakeeya Samrakshana Samithi organised a protest march to the campus entrance, joined by suspended students and parents. Police halted the rally at the gate. Inaugurating the march, CPM Ernakulam District Secretary S. Sathish accused the Vice-Chancellor of ignoring court orders and criticised Higher Education Minister Roji M. John for supporting the management.