A FINAL-YEAR Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) student with the Fiji National University (FNU) has taken legal action in the High Court at Suva to challenge his suspension by FNU.
Shivaan Kumar Sharma’s application for leave to issue judicial review proceedings against FNU was called for the first time before Justice Vishwa Dutt Sharma yesterday. Justice Sharma set down the leave hearing for Thursday.
Mr Sharma, represented by Suva lawyer Jagath Karunaratne, is challenging the decisions, actions, and omissions of FNU and its Registrar in placing him on interim suspension on July 6, 2026, following an incident on July 2, 2026, which led to allegations concerning his conduct and the initiation of criminal proceedings.
Mr Sharma’s application says the suspension has prevented him from completing the final clinical requirements necessary to finish his MBBS program, ahead of an approaching completion deadline of November 13, 2026.
The application challenges the initial interim suspension, subsequent revised notices, and the university’s failure to provide a substantive determination on representations and requests for reconsideration submitted by his legal counsel in July and September 2026.
The grounds of the challenge include unlawful exercise of power, unreasonableness and disproportionality, non-compliance with the University Academic and Student Regulations (UASR), and alleged breaches of constitutional protections to a fair hearing and further education under sections 16 and 31 of the Constitution.
Mr Sharma is seeking an order of certiorari to quash the suspension, declarations that FNU’s continued enforcement of the suspension is unlawful and unreasonable, and an order of mandamus directing the respondents to reconsider his request to complete his outstanding clinical requirements under appropriate safeguards.
