The Delhi High Court has stayed till April 2, the suspension of seven students of the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) University, who were banned from entering the varsity, over their participation in a protest related to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
The single-judge Bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma issued notice to the varsity and said that the way the protest being undertaken by the students was handled by the varsity, was worrisome.
It further stayed the operation of the order dated February 12, 2025, till the next date of hearing.
The High Court directed the JMI Vice-Chancellor (VC) to form a committee comprising officials and student representatives to address the situation. Noting that it has not perused the criminal cases, the single-judge Bench said its verdict shall not have any effect on the same.
Noting that it was not going into the reason for the protest at the moment, the single-judge Bench said the documents, as shown by the petitioners filed along the plea, prima facie showed that it was a peaceful protest.
Recognising the students’ right to peaceful protest and emphasising that raising their voices within the framework of the law was an essential part of their civic training, the High Court ordered the administrative authorities, including JMI’s Vice-Chancellor (VC), Dean and Chief Proctor, to immediately take remedial steps to calm down the situation.
The protests took place from February 10 to 13, when students demonstrated against showcause notices issued to their peers for participating in a December 2024 protest marking the anniversary of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) demonstrations and alleged police brutality on campus in 2019.
On February 12, the varsity suspended 17 students and banned them from entering the campus. The Delhi Police detained 14 students in the early hours of February 13 and released them after nine hours.
The petitions challenging the February 12 suspension order were argued by Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves, who contended that the university’s action was “highly disproportionate and unreasonable” to the peaceful nature of the protest. He further argued that the university sided with the police, leading to the students’ arrests, and imposed the suspensions without granting them a hearing.
On the other hand, the university, represented by advocate Amit Sahani, argued that the students had not sought permission to hold the protest and that the demonstrations had no “correlation” with their academics.
He also claimed that students damaged university property during the protest, prompting the registration of an FIR with the Delhi Police. Additionally, Sahani stated that students had slept outside the canteen, which was impermissible.
The court sought a response from the university on the students’ plea and scheduled the next hearing for April 2.