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New Delhi: “German Universities have still not managed to come out of the shackles of the Nazi regime. That is what authoritarianism does to academia,” said Gilbert Sebastian, an assistant professor of political science at the Central University of Kerala in Kasargod in North Kerala.

The university administration suspended him in May 2021 after he called the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh a “proto-fascist organisation” during an online class, and he was later reinstated after issuing a letter of regret. “There is a similar process going on with [other] universities in India,” he added.

Sebastian’s words echo the latest findings of the Academic Freedom Index, released by the Sweden-based V-Dem Institute in 2026. India’s rank has steadily decreased from 0.65 in 2012 to 0.14 in 2025 on a scale of 0 to 1 (1 being the highest). Last year, it was ranked 156th among 179 countries and it has sustained its position in the bottom 10% to 20% bracket this year too.

Similarly, the ‘Free to Think 2025’ report, released by Scholars at Risk (SAR), a New York-based international network promoting academic freedom, places India among 16 countries and territories with “concerning developments and trends” in academic freedom.

SAR criticised the ruling party’s grip on academia in the country, saying that the Bharatiya Janata Party “took actions to extend its authority over the country’s system of higher education, undermining university autonomy” and that they have tried to “exert political control and impose a Hindu nationalist agenda over universities”.

This steady decline reveals a pattern involving both state and non-state actors – legal policies, administrative bodies and fringe groups that have continuously attempted to curb and silence academic spaces.

Academicians have been threatened with various forms of punishment and legal action. The Wire identified 62 such professors and lecturers from universities across the country, who were subjected to multiple punitive actions for their public opinions and political stances between January 2014 and April 2026. Most of them were targeted due to critical remarks they made against the government, right-wing authoritarianism and the saffronisation of their respective campuses.

Ten of the professors were terminated, while 16 were suspended. Twelve professors were forced to resign, and four received show-cause notices.

When it comes to police action, arrests happened in 21 cases, with several cases pending before the courts.

Disciplining the university: The adoption of CCS Rules

In India, the formalisation of the state’s grasp on academic freedom was confirmed through the adoption of the Central Civil Service (Conduct) Rules in 2018. Established in the year 1964, through Article 309 of the Constitution, it acts as a legally binding set of regulations to “defend and uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India” by imposing restrictions on government employees in engaging in political activities and public interactions.

The professors who have faced prosecution are alleged to have committed ‘offences’ that largely fall under the premise of the CCS rules, even though they have not been formally adopted in many cases. These cases, right from 2014, have thus acted as a precedent for the unquestioned actions that have been taking place.

“Central University teachers are by definition not government servants. My responsibility is not to defend the government, it is to speak the truth,” said Surajit Mazumdar, professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the former president of the JNU Teachers’ Association (JNUTA). “These rules do not make sense because teachers are supposed to have academic freedom and enrich public discussion.”

The rules include restrictions on engaging in political activity, strikes, holding influential associations, unauthorised media interaction or criticism of the government.

Various court rulings also uphold Mazumdar’s view, such as in the case of Suchitra Mishra v. Union of India in March 2015, when the Allahabad high court stated, “The Professors of the University are neither members of service nor do they hold a civil post under the Union nor they are in the service of local or other authority.”

However, on May 1, 2018, the University Grants Commission and the Ministry of Human Resources Development issued a circular that said, “for service matters, the University should follow the Govt of India rules/ orders as applicable to Central Govt. Civilian employees”, adding  “for service matters, the University should follow the Government of India rules/orders applicable to Central Govt Civilian Employees”.

This UGC-MHRD circular from May 1, 2018, directs universities to follow the Central Civil Service (Conduct) Rules, 1964.

According to Mazumdar, these rules are being adopted in universities in two ways: either the universities formally adopt these rules, like in the case of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), or universities formulate individual statutes aligning them with the CCS rules, like in the case of........

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