The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea filed by Dalit PhD student Ramadas K S last year challenging his suspension by the Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS) over “repetitive misconduct and anti-national activities”.
The court observed the institute’s action was not out of discrimination or against freedom of expression.
A bench of Justices Chandurkar and M M Sathaye passed the judgment on Ramadas’s plea seeking revocation of the order issued on April 18, 2024, which suspended him from TISS’s School of Developmental Studies for two years.
“We find that this is not a fit case to interfere. There is no merit in the petition and the same is dismissed,” the high court held.
The plea filed by Ramadas sought to set aside a report by the empowered committee of TISS, which recommended his suspension, claiming that the panel had conducted an arbitrary inquiry without giving him the opportunity of a personal hearing and did not follow due process.
In July last year, the high court had directed TISS to upload the documents of the petitioner so that his fellowship continued pending his plea
In May last year, TISS sought to dismiss the plea stating that Ramadas had filed it without exercising an alternative remedy of appeal before its Vice-Chancellor, which it said was available to him.
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