Dharna, hunger strike and satyagraha have no place inside an academic institution, Kerala High Court holds

3 November 2026

The Kerala High Court has held that political activities such as dharna, hunger strike and satyagraha have no place in a constitutional democracy, and still less inside an academic institution.
A Division Bench said educational institutions exist to impart education and not politics, and that students who take part in such protests could be expelled or rusticated.
The ruling came in Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit v Archana P S and others.
The university had appealed against a single judge's order that let sixteen suspended students sit their semester examinations.
The Division Bench set that order aside, finding the students had not shown they were eligible to appear.
The court also repeated an earlier observation that political parties cannot hold an educational institution to ransom.