Kalady: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday set aside a single judge's interim order that had permitted 16 suspended students of the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit at Kalady to appear for university examinations scheduled to begin on November 4. A Division Bench of Justices Anil K Narendran and Muralee Krishna S allowed the university's appeal in the case titled Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit v Archana PS and others.

Source: Bar and Bench

The Bench held that the interim order, passed on October 30, could not be sustained in law because it virtually granted the main relief sought in the students' writ petition. It found that the pleadings did not make out a strong prima facie case on the students' entitlement to appear in the examinations, noting that the deadline for examination registration had expired on October 23 and that some of the petitioner-students were not covered by the examinations scheduled on November 4. The court clarified that its observations were made only for the disposal of the university's appeal and were not a final comment on the dispute pending before the single judge.

Source: Live Law

How the dispute reached the court

The case stems from a protest held on the Kalady campus on August 13, 2026, while the university's syndicate was holding a meeting. The university has alleged that the protesting students staged a symbolic funeral of the Vice-Chancellor and later obstructed and manhandled her as she was leaving her office, and attempted to damage her vehicle. These remain the university's allegations. FIRs were registered at the Kalady police station after the incident, and on September 1 the university suspended 16 students and initiated disciplinary proceedings against them.

The students approached the High Court challenging their prolonged suspension and exclusion from the campus. On October 30, a single judge provisionally allowed them to appear for the examinations, directed the university to accept their examination fees, and clarified that the interim relief would not affect the final outcome of their pending petition or create additional rights in their favour. The university then challenged that order before the Division Bench.

With Tuesday's ruling, the 16 students cannot sit the examinations beginning November 4 on the strength of the October 30 order. Their writ petition challenging the suspension itself remains pending before the single judge, and the disciplinary proceedings are a separate process. What happens next will depend on the single judge's decision in the main petition.