The Kerala High Court on Wednesday stayed the re-admission of 18 students booked in the suicide of JS Sidharthan, a second-year student of the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences under the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU) at Pookode in Wayanad.

A division bench comprising Justice Amit Rawal and Justice KV Jayakumar stayed the order of the single judge which allowed the re-admission of eighteen students at the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at Mannuthy who were implicated as accused in the suicide of Sidharthan.

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The division bench passed the order in a writ appeal filed by Sidharthan’s mother, who challenged the single judge’s order allowing the accused students’ re-admission. Aggrieved by the order of the single judge, the mother of Sidharthan filed a writ appeal before the division bench. Since she was not a party in the writ petition, she sought leave to file a third-party appeal. The division bench also granted her leave to appeal. The court stated that the mother should also be given a hearing opportunity while the fresh disciplinary inquiry is being conducted by the university.

Staying the single-judge order to reinstate the students, the division bench strongly condemned ragging, stating that students involved in ragging are “worse than those indulging in vandalism”. This remark underscored the seriousness with which the court viewed the allegations against the accused, considering the devastating consequences of ragging.

In December 2024, a single bench quashed the order expelling the accused students and allowed them to take re-admission at the Mannuthy campus. The single bench also directed fresh disciplinary inquiry against the accused.

The single bench had quashed the order expelling the students accused of abetting Sidharthan’s suicide. The bench had also quashed the order debarring the students from taking admission to any other college for three years. It had also quashed the final report of the Anti-Ragging Squad. It had also ordered the Kerala Veterinary And Animal Sciences University to conduct a fresh inquiry after giving the students memo of charges outlining the specific allegations against them, in accordance with the principles of natural justice. The court has permitted the students to continue their studies in the college, subject to the final outcome of the fresh inquiry to be conducted against them.

Sidharthan (20) was found hanging inside the bathroom of his hostel on February 18 allegedly after physical and mental torture by senior students. The post-mortem report indicated that he had been brutally tortured and deprived of food for many days. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) charge sheet stated that the brutal torture by the accused caused his death.