Supreme Court orders FIR, probe on IIT Delhi suicide cases; forms task force on student suicides

NEW DELHI: Noting the rising cases of student suicides in educational institutions, the Supreme Court constituted a national task force to address mental health issues of students and prevent suicides. The top court also ordered the Delhi Police to register a First Information Report (FIR) and conduct a thorough investigation into the deaths of two Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi students belonging to the reserved category.

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan were hearing a petition filed by the parents of IIT Delhi BTech students Ayush Ashna and Anil Kumar who died by suicide in their hostel rooms in 2023. The students belonged to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community were pursuing BTech in Mathematics and Computing at the institute.

The task force will comprise of 10 members including former SC judge Justice S Ravindra Bhat, consultant psychiatrist Alok Sarin, retired professor Mary E John, senior advocate Aparna Bhat, among others. The responsibilities of the task force include identifying predominant causes of student suicides, analysing the existing regulations, and providing recommendations for strengthening protections.

“The task force includes representatives from diverse fields to ensure an interdisciplinary approach to tackling the issue of commission of suicides in higher educational institutions,” the apex court said in its order.

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In their plea, the petitioners sought court’s directions to the police to register FIRs and directions for investigation of cases and independent inquiry into caste-based ‘atrocities’ on campus.

Referring to the recent student deaths including that of a law student at the Gujarat National Law University (GNLU), third-year student at IIT Patna, BTech student at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), second-year student at College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences; the top court noted a “disturbing pattern” of student suicides and ragging, academic pressure, caste-based discrimination, sexual harassment, etc. being the reasons behind such incidents.

FIR, investigation into IIT Delhi student suicides

“For all the foregoing reasons we direct the DCP (South-West District, New Delhi) to register the First Information Report in line with two respective complaints lodged in writing by the kith and kin of the two students who committed suicide and depute any responsible officer, not below the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police, to undertake the investigation in accordance with law,” the SC observed while finding it the responsibility of both the educational institution and the police to file an FIR immediately in such cases, not only as a legal obligation but a moral imperative to ensure justice.

In its analysis of the IIT Delhi student suicides cases, the SC considered whether the Delhi High Court made an error in dismissing the petition seeking directions to the police to register FIRs due to lack evidence on caste-based discrimination on the IITD premises.

Parents of the deceased students had alleged in their statements to the police that their sons were ‘murdered’ and the institute was trying to suppress the matter.