Student Suicide: Supreme Court Directs Personal Presence Of IIT Kharagpur Officer, Police Officer-In-Charge To Explain Delay In Filing FIR

Taking serious note of the delay in filing an FIR by IIT Kharagpur authorities in the incident of a student's suicide, the Supreme Court on May 13 directed the officer concerned of the IIT and the Officer in Charge of the area Police station to be present at the next hearing to explain the reasons for such lapse. The bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan was hearing the matter in which it had earlier issued a slew of directions to address suicides of students in higher educational institutions.Previously, the Court directed the Union to comply in two days with its directions of depositing Rs. 20 Lakhs for setting up a National Task Force dealing with students' mental health and suicide prevention.The Court also sought a status report on two recent instances of student suicides in IIT Kharagpur and a coaching centre in Kota, Rajasthan and whether the administrative authorities have filed an FIR regarding it.On May 13, the Court on response from the authorities in IIT Kharagpur and the Kota Coaching Centre, noted that there was an unexplained delay of 4 days in filing the FIR by IIT Kharagpur. The FIR was lodged only after order of the Court on May 6. It noted, "We are informed that the FIR was lodged after four days from the date of suicide. The student committed suicide on 4-5-2025 whereas the FIR was lodged on 8-5-2025 and that too only when this Court on 6-5-2025 enquired whether the FIR had been lodged or not." The bench further inquired why the FIR was not lodged the same day of the incident. "We want to know from the Management of the IIT, Kharagpur, why it took 4 days for them to lodge the FIR. Why the FIR was not lodged on the very same day. Let a responsible officer from the IIT, Kharagpur, personally remain present before this Court and make us understand about this lapse. We also direct the Officer-in-charge of the concerned Police Station to personally remain present before this Court."With regards the Kota Suicide Incident, the Court noted that as per the submission of Sr Adv. Mukul Rohatgi for the coaching centre, "the student was residing with her parents and the institute was only imparting coaching to the student to prepare her for the NEET (UG)." Nevertheless, the Court directed the Kota Police to explain "why the Police itself did not register the FIR in line with our judgment."The Court also granted an extension of 8 weeks time from July 24, 2025 to the NTF for filing its interim report. It also directed the Registry to disburse funds to NTF as and when requested by the Chairperson of NTF, Justice SR Bhat. The Two Incidents Of SuicidesThe Court noted that a student aged 22 studying in IIT, Kharagpur was found hanging in his hostel room on 4-5-2025. The deceased was a three-year Civil Engineering student. His body was found hanging in his room in the Madan Mohan Malaviya (M.M.M.) Hall. The student was identified as Mohammad Asif Qamar from Bihar's Sheohar District.Referring to media reports, the Court observed that the deceased was on a video call with his friend from Delhi just a few moments before he committed suicide.The bench also took note of the other instance of suicide by an 18-year-old NEET aspirant who hanged herself from an iron grille of her room in Parshavnath area ahead of the National Medical Entrance Examination, which was scheduled on May 11.The Court recorded that this was the 14th suicide case by a coaching student reported from Kota this year. It added that, "Since January, 2025, a total of 17 cases of suicides by coaching students were reported in Kota last year. We would like to know whether an FIR has been registered in connection with this suicide also or not."In March, the bench directed the formation of the National Task Force to address the mental health concerns of students and prevent the rising number of suicides in higher educational institutions (HEIs). The NTF would be headed by Justice SR Bhat and shall comprise nine other members. It also directed the Union to sanction an amount of Rs. 20 Lakhs within 2 weeks from the date of the said direction as "an outlay for the initial operations of the task-force".The Court also held that in the event of any unfortunate incident, such as a suicide occurring on campus, it becomes the unequivocal duty of the institution to promptly lodge an F.I.R. with the appropriate authorities.The matter will now be heard on May 23. Counsel for Petitioners : Mr. Mehmood Pracha, Adv; Mr. R. H. A. Sikander, AOR; Mr. Jatin Bhatt, Adv.; Mr. Sanawar, Adv.; Mr. Kshitij Singh, Adv.; Ms. Nujhat Naseem, Adv.; Mr. Sikander, Adv; Chirag Verma AdvCounsel for Respondents: Mr. Brijender Chahar, A.S.G.; Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR; Mr. Abhijit Pandove, Adv.; Mr. Amit Sharma Ii, Adv.; Mrs. Bani Dikshit, Adv.; Mr. Varun Chugh, Adv.; Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv. ; Ms. Mrinal Gopal Elker, AOR; Ms. Chhavi Khandelwal, Adv.' Sr Adv Mukul RohatgiCase Details : AMIT KUMAR & ORS. v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS.| Criminal Appeal No(s). 1425/2025

Student Suicide: Supreme Court Directs Personal Presence Of IIT Kharagpur Officer, Police Officer-In-Charge To Explain Delay In Filing FIR

Anmol Kaur Bawa

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