The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the decision of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to suspend Dalit PhD scholar and left student leader Ramadas KS for "anti-national activities" [Ramadas KS vs TISS]. .However, the Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Manmohan ordered that his two-year suspension for alleged misconduct be reduced to the period already undergone and directed TISS to reinstate him.."Without examining the claims and counter-claims on merits, we feel that TISS having suspended the petitioner on 18th April, 2024 and lapsing of more than a year since then, interest of justice would be best served if the order of suspension is not continued further and he be permitted to pursue the PhD course in TISS," reads the order..The bench however cautioned that Ramadas should faithfully observe the Code of Conduct while he is a student of TISS. "Should there be any further allegation of breach of such code, TISS shall be at liberty to proceed against the petitioner in accordance with law," the Court added. .Ramadas was suspended from TISS for two years in April 2024, citing repetitive acts of misconduct and unlawful activities during various protests including a parliament march.In a public notice issued the same month, TISS defended its decision. It argued that Ramadas broke the institute's rules by taking part in politically motivated protests even while being supported by Central government scholarships for Scheduled Caste students. A TISS committee suspended him for a two-year period.TISS claimed that Ramadas had shown a shift from pursuing academics to pursuing political agenda-driven activities.It referred to various protests that Ramadas had been part of, including a call in January 2023 for students to attend the screening of a banned BBC documentary at the college campus, and a midnight protest against the institute's refusal to allow controversial speakers to attend lectures held in Bhagat Singh's memory.It also referred to Ramadas' posts on social media inviting people to a screening of a documentary named 'Raam Ke Naam' at the institute on the day of the inauguration of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. TISS said that this documentary was deemed a propaganda movie and that Ramadas had no permission to screen such a movie. TISS added that Ramadas had continued such activities despite several warnings and advisories..In March 2025, the Bombay High Court dismissed a petition filed by the Dalit PhD scholar challenging his suspension. This led him to approach the Supreme Court for relief. The top court earlier asked TISS to place on record the documents based on which its Empowered Committee suspended Ramadas for two years.Yesterday, the Court upheld the suspension, but reduced the sentence to the period already undergone. .Senior Advocate Dr S Muralidhar appeared for Ramadas KS, and Advocate Rajeev Kumar Pandey, along with Advocate on Record Vivek Singh appeared for TISS..[Read Order]
