IIT Delhi case: Supreme court sets up task force to check student suicides on campuses

The Supreme Court on Monday set up a task force to protect students on campuses. The move follows rising suicides in educational institutions.

Former judge Justice S Ravindra has been appointed to lead the task force.

The SC's decision of setting up a task force comes in response to the deaths of two IIT-Delhi students from the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities who died by suicide in 2023.

The apex court highlighted the growing concerns over the increasing number of suicides among students, mostly from the marginalised communities, across all institutions in India.

What the task force will do

The Supreme Court has directed the task force to submit a report within four months, identifying the reasons behind student suicides and suggesting ways to prevent them.

The task force will also include officials from the higher education, social justice, women and child development, and legal affairs departments, stated reports.

‘Not isolated incidents…’

Justices JB Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan, who presided over the bench, expressed serious concern about recent incidents of student suicides in college hostels. They highlighted that these deaths were not isolated cases but part of a troubling trend.

“We deem it necessary to discuss the pattern of students’ suicide… What disturbs us even more is that… [they] are not isolated incidents…,” said the justices, reported Law Trend.

IIT Delhi student death case

The Supreme Court has also directed the Delhi Police to conduct a thorough investigation into the deaths of two IIT-Delhi students from the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities who died by suicide in 2023.

The parents of two IIT Delhi students had filed a petition, alleging that their children faced harassment on campus.The police, however, closed the case after a basic investigation, the petition claimed.

The Supreme Court ruled that this closure was wrong, stating that if there were harassment allegations, the police should have registered an FIR (First Information Report) instead of just relying on inquest proceedings, which only determine the cause of death, reported PTI.

Data on student suicides at IITs

According to the data by institutes shared in response to RTI query, out of 23 IITs, six died at Delhi campus, while 31 at other campuses.

RTI activist Dr. Vivek Pandey had said that 37 suicides took place from 2019-20 to 2023-24. It further told that seven had occurred at Madras and Hyderabad campuses, respectively.

The IIT BHU campus witnessed 4 suicides, whereas Kanpur and Kharagpur registered three each. Bombay and Dhanbad witnessed two each, while one at each of Dharwad, Gandhinagar, Roorkee campuses.