IIT suicide case: HC suggests CBI probe but dismisses plea

A division bench of Justices M Sathyanarayanan and R Hemalatha, while dismissing a plea moved by Loktantrik Janata Dal’s Kerala unit seeking a CBI probe into all suicides reported at IIT-Madras since 2006, said, “The statistics provided by the government would disclose that between February 2008 and November 2017, as many as 16 students, hostellers of IIT-M had committed suicide, may be on account of stress and other related facts and unable to perform totheir full potential.”

“It is high time the administration of IIT-M makes every endeavour to give periodical psychiatric counselling to the students,” the bench said.

It also noted that the faculty members are under the obligation to motivate/encourage the students to perform better and find a permanent solution as expeditiously as possible to prevent the loss of young lives.

The bench also suggested that such psychiatric counselling should be part of the course in all the educational institutions to prevent such incidents by way of instilling more confidence among young minds.

However, the bench on taking into consideration the facts and circumstances as well as the agony being undergone by the parents of the deceased, directed the investigating agency to file their status report before the court on the progress being made in the investigation by January 22.

Similarly, another division bench of Justices M Sathyanarayanan and N Seshasayee dismissed a separate plea moved by the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) seeking a CBI probe into Fathima’s death. The plea was dismissed reportedly on the ground that it did not present enough evidence to make its case seeking for a CBI probe. However, the bench while dismissing the plea, also directed IIT Madras to provide psychological counselling to its students.

The matter relates to the alleged suicide by Fathima Lathief, a first-year humanities student in IIT-M, at her hostel on November 9 over which students and political parties staged protests.

The Loktantrik Janata Dal in its plea had submitted that 14 students had committed suicide on campus owing to discrimination based on caste, religion and language while NSUI alleged that from April 2018 till November 2019, as many as five students had committed suicide in the campus and that the management had not taken any effective steps in checking the issue.