Student protesters fined 33 lakh by NIT-Calicut threaten legal action

The esteemed National Institute of Technology (NIT), Calicut, has imposed a jaw-dropping ₹ 33 lakh fine on five of its students who protested on campus. The institute says the all-day-all-night strike resulted in financial loss. The students have rubbished this claim.

The ₹ 6.65 lakh per person penalty on the five-member group that led the protest on June 12 came as a shock, with the Kerala-based institute claiming that the peaceful sit-in resulted in the loss of a working day.

The protesting students, however, are unmoved and “refuse to pay the fine.”

One of the protesters who received the penalty notice, Ben Thomas, secretary of the Alumni Association of NIT-C, told Education Post on the phone from Kerala: “This fine is not legal. It is ridiculous. We’ll seek legal action before responding to the show-cause notice issued by the registrar.”

“We did not damage any property, we did not break anything,” he assured, wondering about the financial loss NIT-C was demanding the fine for.

"The notification took us by surprise, given that the allegations made by the institute bear no truth. The main entrance was shut down as a part of the demonstration, however, the day-to-day operations of the college remained unaffected.”

According to the NIT-C management, the students had blocked the entrance to the institute, preventing the staff from entering the campus.

The NIT-C has since March 20 imposed a night curfew and ban on late-night canteen access following a series of student protests on campus after the Ram Temple consecration in Ayodhya.

Thomas said this particular sit-in was to convince the management to lift the night curfew.

“Our sole intention was to engage in a dialogue with the campus director, representing the Students Affairs Council (SAC), as the students were grappling with numerous issues due to unnecessary restrictions imposed on the campus. The institute's authorities, rather than attempting to comprehend the hardships endured by the students, seem to be preoccupied with making the students' lives more challenging."

Apart from Thomas, the students who have been fined for leading the protest on June 12 are Kailash Nath, Irshad Ibrahim, Adarsh J, and Vyshakh Premkumar.

Each of these students has been ordered to pay ₹ 6,61,155. The institute has given them seven days to respond to the show-cause notice or face further action.

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