Courts Cannot Direct Universities To Permit Students To Write Exams Contrary To Regulations: Kerala High Court
The Court set aside interim order allowing suspended students to sit for examinations, holds writ petition lacked pleadings on attendance and internal examinations and that the interim relief was virtually the final relief.
Justice Anil K. Narendran, Justice Muralee Krishna S., Kerala High Court
The Kerala High Court has held that no court has competence to direct a university to act in contravention of the regulations governing the course in question. Allowing a writ appeal by Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, the Court set aside an interim order that permitted suspended students to appear for examinations without applying in the manner the University’s notification required.
The Court found that the writ petition did not plead the students’ entitlement to appear, in terms of minimum attendance and a pass in internal examinations. It held that the pleadings therefore did not make out a “very strong prima facie case,” and that an interim order which virtually granted the main relief could not be sustained.
A Division Bench of Justice Anil K. Narendran and Justice Muralee Krishna S. referring to Harish Chandra [(1996) 9 SCC 309] and Bhaskara Rao A.B [(2011) 10 SCC 259], observed, “…since no court has competence to issue direction to the University to act in contravention of the relevant Regulations governing the course in question”.
“…the pleadings in the writ petition do not make out a very strong prima facie case as per the requirements of the law laid down by the Apex Court in Deoraj [(2004) 4 SCC 697]…”, it noted further.
Advocate Navaneeth Krishnan A.L. appeared for the appellants and Senior Advocate T.A. Shaji appeared for the respondents.
Sixteen students of the University were placed under suspension by an order dated September 1, 2026, pending an enquiry into incidents alleged to have occurred on its campus on August 13, 2026. Two FIRs under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 were registered at Kalady Police Station in connection with those incidents. The students challenged the suspension in a writ petition filed on October 12, 2026, and also sought provisional acceptance of their examination applications under the University’s notification dated October 3, 2026.
On October 30, 2026, a Single Judge, acting on an interlocutory application moved as a “today motion,” directed the University to accept the examination fee and permit the students to appear in examinations commencing November 4, 2026. The appearance was made subject to the final outcome of the writ petition. The University challenged this order in an intra-court appeal under Section 5(i) of the Kerala High Court Act, 1958.
The Division Bench declined to examine the incidents of August 13, as investigation was ongoing. It recorded that none of the petitioners, other than the Ph.D. research scholars to whom the notification did not apply, had applied for condonation of shortage of attendance.
Referring to Deoraj v. State of Maharashtra and its own decision in State of Kerala v. Pradeepkumar A.V., the Court held that an interim order amounting to final relief needs a very strong prima facie case. On maintainability, it held the appeal lay, since the order substantially affected the University’s rights and was passed without the Standing Counsel getting an opportunity to take instructions.
The writ appeal was allowed and the interim order dated October 30, 2026 set aside. The Court clarified that its observations touching the merits were made only for disposing of the appeal.
Cause Title: Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit and Ors. v. Archana P.S. and Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2026:KER:83945)
Appearances:
Appellants: Silpa Sreekumar, Standing Counsel, Advocate Navaneeth Krishnan A.L.
Respondent: Senior Advocate T.A. Shaji with Advocates. P.G. Pramod and Nadiya K.M.