The Delhi High Court on Friday asked Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union President Kanhaiya Kumar to call off the hunger strike that students have been on since April 27. The court was hearing petitions filed by Kumar and seven other students challenging the university’s disciplinary action against them based on the inquiry committee’s report. It said it will hear the plea only if students end their agitation. Students have been protesting against the report and the punishment meted out for a controversial event on campus on February 9.

The JNU administration on Wednesday had appealed to students to end the hunger strike, saying that the matter was still sub-judice, PTI reported. The Delhi High Court on Tuesday had refused to grant immediate relief to student leaders Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattaracharya from their rustication notices, saying it needed time to consider the case further. Khalid and Bhattacharya had moved the high court, challenging the probe panel’s decision to suspend them. The same day, JNU formed a a four-member panel to "discuss issues related to students and teachers who have been on hunger strike.

An inquiry commission had been set up by the university to look into incidents that led to a major unrest and arrest of a few students in February. The panel found several students , including JNU Students' Union President Kanhaiya Kumar, Khalid and Bhattacharya guilty and imposed fines on them, besides barring students from the university for varying periods of time.