Bombay High Court Directs Reinstatement of IIT-B Student Suspended for Media Byte

Bombay High Court Directs Reinstatement of IIT-B Student Suspended for Media Byte

July 20, 2025

The Bombay High Court has ruled in favor of a Ph.D. student from IIT-Bombay, Akshay Sawant, who was suspended earlier this year for giving unauthorized media interviews. The court's order, issued on July 15, stated that the suspension would be lifted from July 25 onwards and that the time spent under suspension would not reflect on Sawant's academic record. Sawant, a student of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, was suspended for eight months following a report from the institute's fact-finding committee and disciplinary action committee. He challenged the suspension order in court, alleging that the charges against him were baseless and the actions taken were unjustifiable. Sawant's suspension stemmed from comments he made in a newspaper article regarding the celebration of festivals on the campus and an allegation of favoritism. He maintained that the charges were unfounded and that he did not consent to the media quote mentioned in the article. Despite seeking redressal by writing to the institute, Sawant received no response, prompting him to approach the court. The court, in its judgment, highlighted the need to safeguard Sawant's academic future and clarified that his statements in the article were made in his personal capacity. Following the court's decision, the Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle, a student collective, lauded the ruling as a victory for student rights and a stand against the alleged casteist and authoritarian practices of the IIT-Bombay administration.

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Tags: Iit bombay, Suspension, Media byte, Court order,

Yogita Rao

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