This paper explores how transdisciplinary research (TDR), transformative education and interactional classroom justice can together move Indian higher education (HE) beyond rote-based pedagogy. While India's National Education Policy (NEP) (2020) promotes creative and inquiry-based reforms of the system, less attention has been paid to understanding the fairness of everyday teacher–student interactions. Based on qualitative data from the Co-Creation in Society (CCIS) course, a two-week transdisciplinary and transformative initiative, this paper shares findings to support the idea that the redistribution of epistemic authority formed a key element in students' experiences. Students felt they were treated as co-researchers rather than passive recipients of knowledge. This shift offered a structural space for students to instigate discussions, ask questions and modeled respectful engagement with social stakeholders, reshaping students' sense of agency and intellectual growth. The study concludes by extending classroom justice theory to include epistemic authority, and offering a rare Indian perspective on classroom justice, broadening international debates on issues of equity, didactics, and leadership.
Karad et al. (Sun,) studied this question.