SC orders probe into IIT-Delhi student deaths, sets up panel on campus suicides

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a police probe into the deaths of two IIT Delhi students belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities in 2023, while constituting a task force to examine the issue of student suicides across educational institutions and recommend policy measures. The task force will be chaired by former top court judge Justice S Ravindra Bhat and include representatives from the ministries of education, social welfare, women and child development, and law and justice.

“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,” ordered the bench.

The petition in the matter was filed by the parents of students found dead in July 2023 and September 2023 in their hostel rooms. Their families claimed the deaths were not suicides but murders, alleging a conspiracy by IIT faculty to cover up caste-based harassment.

The Delhi high court declined to order an FIR in January 2024, citing a status report by the Delhi government, which found no evidence of caste-based discrimination.

Setting aside the Delhi high court order, the Supreme Court criticised the failure of authorities to register FIRs in the deaths of the two IIT-Delhi students. Justice JB Pardiwala, while reading out the ruling, said: “We have held that the matter could not have been closed without the registration of an FIR. An inquest only pertains to the cause of death, but if the parents felt their children were harassed, it was the duty of the management and the police to lodge an FIR and investigate the matter properly.”

The court noted a disturbing pattern of suicides in educational institutions nationwide. It referenced multiple recent cases, including a law student’s suicide in March this year at the Gujarat National Law University; an IIT Patna student’s death in February 2025; a student’s suicide at KIIT, Odisha, in February 2025 and a student’s suicide in Wayanad, Kerala, in February 2025, allegedly due to harassment. “These incidents could be just a few among many that go unreported,” the court said.

In response to the concerning trend, the Supreme Court set up the 10-member task force to analyse the root causes of student suicides, review existing regulations, and propose solutions. Justice Bhat will chair the committee, with ex officio members from the central government ministries.

The committee will identify the chief causes of student suicides, analyse existing laws and institutional mechanisms, and recommend measures to prevent campus suicides. The task force’s interim report is due within four months. The court also clarified that a separate case on suicides among SC students, pending before another bench, will continue independently.

In their plea, parents of the IIT-Delhi students sought registration of FIRs, an impartial investigation into caste-based atrocities at the institute, and a court-monitored probe by an independent inquiry into discrimination in educational institutions.

The high court banked on a status report by the Delhi government, which pointed out that no prior complaints were filed by the students regarding harassment while rejecting the plea. It said statements from family, friends, and SC/ST students at IIT-Delhi did not corroborate discrimination claims. The high court found the absence of substantial evidence to support the allegations. It concluded that “a mandamus cannot be issued in a routine manner merely on the basis of sympathy or sentiments.”