In a major move, the management of the Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology (CBIT) in Hyderabad on Sunday rusticated 12 students and suspended another 14, for organising protests on its campus at Gandipet.
The Principal of the college, who issued the orders, said that the rusticated students had forcibly disrupted classes and threatened students against attending lectures, besides indulging in vandalism and getting into altercations with security staff.
According to media reports, 12 students were rusticated from August 27 to September 11 while the suspension order for 14 students would be in place from August 27 to September 6.
The students will also have to appear in front of the college's enquiry committee along with their parents, on a date that is given to them, to present their version of events and explain why they shouldn't be rusticated or suspended for the entire semester.
This is not the first time that the management has cracked down on the students, who have been protesting the fee hike since last year.
In December last year, nine students were taken into preventive custody by the Narsingi police after a protest against CBIT's decision to hike the fees.
The students blocked the main gate and sat on a protest, raising slogans, which led to mild tension on campus.
Students have been protesting ever since the college decided to hike its yearly fee for BE and BTech students, admitted during 2016-17 and 2018-19, from Rs 1.13 lakh to Rs 2 lakh per annum.
The sudden hike of Rs 86,500, has taken the students by surprise, as many of them argue that they could not pay the remainder amount.
The institute has been justifying the hike, based on a High Court order that had ruled in CBIT's favour to hike the fees to Rs 2 lakh.
Seeking action against CBIT, members of the Telangana Parents Association have also brought the issue to the notice of Telangana Deputy CM and state Education Minister Kadiyam Srihari.