2025 INSC 384
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
(HONBLE J.B. PARDIWALA, J. AND
HONBLE R. MAHADEVAN, JJ.)
AMIT KUMAR &
ORS.
Appellants
VERSUS
UNION OF INDIA
& ORS.
Respondents
Criminal Appeal No. 1425 OF 2025
(@SLP (CRL) NO. 13324 OF 2024)-Decided on 24-03-2025
Criminal
(A) Criminal
Procedure Code, 1973, Section 154, 174 - Suicide by a student Registration of
FIR
Prayer for - Whether the Police was justified in closing the matter upon
conclusion of the inquiry under Section 174 of the CrPC without registration of
an F.I. R.? Appellant nos. 1 and 2 respectively in their complaint dated
09.09.2023, stated that the death of A was not due to suicide, but was a
result of murder based on caste hatred - They also informed the Police that A
was facing caste-based discrimination including the use of derogatory
caste-based words by the members of the faculty - Offence alleged by the
appellants in their respective complaints disclosed commission of cognizable
offences - It is altogether a different thing to say that there is no element
of truth in what has been alleged by the appellants in their respective
complaints - It could just be a figment of their imagination - It could also be
just a reflection of their anger towards the management as two young boys lost
their lives Held that even if the Police was of the view that there was no
element of truth in what had been alleged by the appellants, it could have said
so only after registering an F.I.R. and conducting an investigation pursuant
thereto - Responsibility of maintaining the safety and well-being of students
rests heavily on the administration of every educational institution -
Therefore, in the event of any unfortunate incident, such as a suicide
occurring on campus, it becomes their unequivocal duty to promptly lodge an
F.I.R. with the appropriate authorities - Such action is not only a legal
obligation but also a moral imperative to ensure transparency, accountability, and
the pursuit of justice - Simultaneously, it is incumbent upon the police
authorities to act with diligence and responsibility by registering the FIR
without refusal or delay - This ensures that due process of law is upheld, and
a thorough investigation can be conducted to uncover the truth and address any
underlying causes - The harmonious discharge of these duties by both
educational institutions and law enforcement agencies is essential to prevent
the recurrence of such tragedies and to preserve trust in societal institutions
- In a given case, failure on part of the administration of any educational
institution may be viewed strictly - DCP (South-West District, New Delhi)
directed 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 - Need not say anything further as investigation of any crime is
within the domain of the police.
(Para
38 to 40, 47 and 48)
(B) Criminal
Procedure Code, 1973, Section 154, 174 Inquest proceedings Registration of
FIR
Held that inquest proceedings are concerned with discovering whether in a given
case the death was accidental, suicidal, homicidal, or caused by an animal and
in what manner or by what weapon or instrument the injuries on the body appear
to have been inflicted, therefore, the evidence taken is very short - The investigations conducted under Sections
154 and 174 of the CrPC respectively are distinct in nature and purpose - A
study of Chapter XII of the CrPC reveals that these two provisions cater to
different procedural objectives - The former begins with information about the
commission of a cognizable offence referred to in Section 154(1), culminating
in registration of F.I.R. and ending with filing of a chargesheet/challan
before the competent court under Section 173 or a final report as the case may
be - In contrast, an investigation under Section 174 of the CrPC focuses on
ascertaining the apparent cause of death in cases of unnatural or suspicious
deaths - The investigation after registration of F.I.R. under Section 154 of
the CrPC is an investigation into an offence - In contrast, the investigation
under Section 174 of the CrPC is an investigation or an "inquiry"
into the apparent cause of death.
(Para
22, 23, 24, 26 and 27)
(C) Criminal
Procedure Code, 1973, Section 154 Registration of FIR Duty of Police - Held that when an informant approaches the
police with information regarding the commission of a cognizable offence, the
police owes a duty to promptly register an F.I.R. and initiate investigation in
accordance with Section 154 of the CrPC - The police authorities are not vested
with any discretion to conduct a preliminary inquiry to assess the credibility
of the information before registering the F.I.R - Any such practice would be
contrary to the established principles of criminal law.
(Para
34)
JUDGMENT
J. B. Pardiwala
& R. Mahadevan, Jj. :-
Leave granted.
2. This appeal arises from the
judgment and order passed by the High Court of Delhi, dated 30.01.2024, in Writ
Petition Criminal No. 2945 of 2023 by which the High Court rejected the writ
application filed by the appellants herein declining to issue a writ of
mandamus to the Police for the purpose of registration of a First Information
Report (for short, "F.I.R.") in connection with the commission of
suicide by two students - sons of the appellant no. 2 and appellant no. 3
herein respectively - while they were studying at the Indian Institute of
Technology, Delhi (for short, "IIT, Delhi").
A. FACTUAL MATRIX
3. We propose to borrow the facts
giving rise to this appeal straight from the impugned judgment of the High
Court. The same reads thus:
"1.
The present petition under Article 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India has
been filed by the petitioners with the following prayers: -
"a)
to issue an appropriate writ, order or direction including a writ in the nature
of mandamus, thereby directing the police authorities or Respondent No. 6 to
register appropriate FIRs in the cases involving the deaths of the sons of
Petitioner No. 2 and Petitioner No. 3; and
b) to
issue an appropriate writ, order or direction including a writ in the nature of
mandamus, thereby directing the investigation of the cases to be done by
Respondent No. 6; and
c) to
issue an appropriate writ, order or direction including a writ in the nature of
mandamus, thereby directing the Respondent No. 6 to conduct a thorough,
impartial investigation into the caste based atrocities being committed in the
premises of Respondent No. 5; and
d)
monitor the investigation of the case; and
e)
direct an independent inquiry into caste based atrocities being committed in
the premises of Respondent No. 5; and
f) to
issue an appropriate writ, order or direction including a writ in the nature of
mandamus, thereby commanding the Respondents to ensure strict compliance and
implementation of provisions of SC/ST(POA)Act, 1989 and rules and regulations
under the SC/ST(POA) Rules 1995.
g) pass
any other or further orders, as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in
the circumstances of the present case."
2. In
brief the facts of the case are that Complaints dated 26.07.2023 and 09.09.2023
were filed by the petitioners who are the parents of two deceased students of
B.Tech (Mathematics and Computing) at Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi,
wherein, it was alleged that one student, namely, Ayush Ashna was found dead on
08.07.2023 at his Hostel Room No. WH-02, Seventh Floor, Udaigiri Hostel, IIT,
New Delhi and another student, namely, Anil Kumar was found dead on 01.09.2023
in his Hostel Room No. EA-18, Ground Floor, Vidhyachal Hostel, IIT, New Delhi.
It is alleged in the complaints that they were murdered with the conspiracy of
IIT Faculty members to hide the real facts and both the students have been
falsely shown to have committed suicide. It is further alleged in the
complaints that both the students belonged to Scheduled Castes and they had
informed their parents several times regarding caste discrimination by the
faculty/staff of IIT, Delhi and therefore, the petitioners alleged that the
faculty members are trying to save the real accused persons and the police
officials are also not investigating the matter in a proper manner. In view of
the above said complaints, an enquiry was conducted in both the cases.
3. As
per the Status Report filed by the Ld. ASC, postmortem of the deceased Ayush
Ashna was conducted vide PM No. 1500/23, wherein the cause of death was held to
be "asphyxia as a result of hanging due to ligature". During the course
of enquiry, statements of father, brother, other relatives and friends of the
deceased were recorded in which it was found that the deceased had failed in
some of the subjects in the prior semester exams due to which he was under
depression. They further denied any foul play or any suspicion regarding the
death of deceased. Father of the deceased, namely, Ramesh Kumar had later given
a written complaint in the police station, in which he alleged that his son
Ayush Ashna was facing caste based discrimination by his hostel mates and other
faculty members during the beginning of his academic year 2019-2020 and he also
suspected in the complaint that his son could not have taken such steps and
someone might have killed his son with the connivance of faculty members.
Therefore, to clarify the facts, the grade reports of Ayush Ashna were
collected from IIT and it was found that during the 2nd semester of year
2022-23, he had failed in some of the subjects and got lower grades i.e., Grade
Fwhich stands for Very Poor in 5 out of 7 subjects. During further enquiry,
several other students of IIT, Delhi who belonged to Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes were also examined, wherein none of them reported any
caste-based discrimination against any of them.
4. In
the case of Anil Kumar, postmortem of the deceased was conducted vide PM No.
2048/23 wherein the cause of death was held to be "asphyxia consequent to
ante-mortem compression of neck by ligature". During the course of
enquiry, statements of the brother, mother, other relatives and friends of the
deceased were recorded who stated that due to scoring less marks in exams,
deceased was under stress. They further denied any foul play or any suspicion
regarding the death of deceased. Brother of the deceased, namely, Amit Kumar
had later given a written complaint in the police station, in which he alleged
that Anil Kumar was facing caste-based discrimination by his teachers and other
faculty members. He also suspected in the complaint that his brother could not
have taken such steps and someone might have killed him with the connivance of
faculty members and the faculty members are also trying to save the real
accused persons. He further alleged in his complaint that there was some kind
of bleeding from the ears of the dead body and blood stains were scattered all
over the room and thus, the same does not appear to be an incident of suicide.
5.
Accordingly, further enquiry was conducted in the case wherein it was found
that Anil Kumar had taken admission in IIT Delhi in 2019 vide Entry No. 2019
MT10674 in B.Tech (Mathematics and Computing) and he was allotted Room No.
SD-11, Vindhyachal Hostel at the time of admission. During the semester period
of 2020-21 and 2022-23, he got low grades in some of the subjects. Deceased
Anil Kumar extended his stay at the hostel for the preparation of remaining
subjects and completing the course and the same was granted by the relevant
department immediately. Subsequently, he was allotted Room No. EA-18,
Vindhyachal Hostel. The deceased could not clear some subjects and was residing
in hostel on further six months extension. As per the rules, his hostel was to
be vacated in June but as he could not qualify some subjects, he was given
extension for six months to clear the exams.
6. On
further verification of facts, it was revealed that the deceased passed all the
subjects in 1st year but he later failed in two subjects out of seven subjects
in 3rd semester. Thereafter, in 4th semester he took only one subject and
failed in the same, in the following year (2021-22) he failed to pass any
subject, in 7th semester he failed in one subject out of six subjects and
finally in 8th semester he failed in two subjects out of six subjects and
therefore, he was given an extension to clear all the subjects. Furthermore,
Hostel allotment letters were also analyzed and it was found that there was no
column revealing the category of the students as to whether she/he belongs to
SC/ST/General category in any of the form and only entry number was mentioned in
all the forms and thus, no evidence of caste-based discrimination against the
deceased was found. "
4. Thus, it appears from the
aforesaid that two young boys aspiring to be engineers were found dead in their
respective hostel rooms under suspicious circumstances. Ayush Ashna was found
dead on 08.07.2023 in his hostel room No. WH-02 situated on the 7th Floor,
Udaigiri Hostel, IIT, New Delhi, whereas, Anil Kumar was found dead on
01.09.2023 in his hostel room No. EA-18 situated on the Ground Floor of Vindhyanchal
Hostel at IIT Delhi.
5. It appears from the materials
on record that the father of Ayush Ashna lodged a complaint with the Dy.
Commissioner of Police, South-West District, New Delhi, dated 21.07.2023, which
reads thus:
Seal-
OFFICE
OF THE DEPUTY
COMMISSIONER
OF POLICE
SOUTH
WEST DISTRICT
RECEIVED
BY:
DHARAMPAL
SIGNATURE:
SD/
Dated:
26.07.2023
Dated:
21.07.2023 To
The DCP
(South
West District)
Vasant Vihar, New Delhi-l 10067
Subject:
Complaint against the death ofAyush Ashna s/o Ramesh Kumar, student of 4th year
B. Tech. (Mathematics and Computing) IIT, Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016.
1. The
complainant is the unfortunate father of the deceased son Ayush Ashna, student
of 4th year B. Tech, (Mathematics and Computing) BT, Delhi residing at his room
No. WH-02, Udaigiri Hostel, IIT Delhi-l 10016 and with heavy heart I am
formally filing a complaint regarding the tragic death of my beloved son, Ayush
Ashna, on midnight of 8th July, 2023 and I believe there circumstances
surrounding his death that warrant a thorough investigation by your esteemed
department and my son, Ayush Ashna was a 21 year old student who had a bright
future ahead of him. His sudden and unnatural death has left us devastated and
searching for answers. While I recognize that all of sudden and untimely and
unnatural deaths have external causes and I have also reason to believe that
there may have been factors contributing to his untimely and unnatural deaths, and
I implore you to investigate the matter impartially and thoroughly and I seek a
comprehensive investigation into the events leading up to our son's untimely
and unnatural death.
2. That
my deceased son Ayush Ashna was a brilliant student from his school days, and
in his first attempt he had cracked the prestigious JEE-Advanced 2019 exam and
on the basis All India Rank in SC Category qualified to be admitted in First
year of B. Tech. (Chemical Engineering) in IIT, Delhi in the academic year 2019
as this was proud moment for parents and relatives as their elder son also
passed out from IIT, Delhi by completing B. Tech. (Civil Engineering) in the
same year.
3. That
my deceased son, since beginning of the academic year 2019-20 started facing
caste based discrimination by his hostel mates and other faculty members
however the complainant advised the deceased son to focus on his study only and
over the time the all things will come in order.
4. That
my deceased son Ayush Ashna was full of life and he always remained in touch
with his mother and his elder brother as both residing in Delhi and with some
close relatives who are also residing in Delhi.
5. That
my son changed his department from B.Tech (Chemical Engineering) to Department
of Mathematics and Computing which clearly demonstrate that my son was doing
well in study and might have a bright future ahead.
6. That
he had changed his hostel residence from Jwalamukhi Hostel to Udaigiri Hostel
after his category was disclosed in a published branch change list. He told that
he noticed a change in his friends behaviour as they grew distant and rarely
talked to him.
7. That
after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted and all students were allowed back to
their respective hostel so as my deceased son Ayush Ashna took, residence in
Udaigiri Hostel, IIT Campus, Delhi and was doing well and in his study.
8. That
during his final year at B. Tech., he had not performed well in some papers and
thereafter he decided to stay in same Hostel for further studies and also registered
in a summer course conducted by Mathematics and Computing in this regard.
9. That
it is pertinent to mention that, 1st July, 2023 was my deceased son's 20th
birthday and was greeted by his mother and brother and other near and dears and
on phone he also discussed with his elder brother about further studies and
other future prospect.
10.
That on 5th July 2023 his elder brother and his mother called on his phone many
times but no response was received and at night of 5th July 2023 the elder son
and my wife alongwith her brother went to Udaigiri Hostel where the family of
the deceased kept at dark for an hour and later on it was disclosed by the IIT
Hostel authorities to his family present at hostel on the night of 8/9 July
2023 that the my son was left this material world by hanging himself.
11.
That after hearing this tragic and devastating news my elder son and my wife
alongwith her brother lost conscious and went into unconscious stage as it was
very hard to believe that how my young son of age of 21 years can take such
extreme step as he had yesterday celebrated birthday.
12.
That as it was so informed, by my wife and my elder son and my brother-in-law
present at that time that the deceased son Ayush was found hanging, from his
study desk with his knees resting on a small trolley bag and by looking the
body its seems that someone murdered my son and tied rope and wires around his
neck which was attached to leg of his of four feet study table, later on some
crime team arrived and took some photographs of the crime scene.
13.
That was informed by my wife and my elder son and my brother-in-law (mama of
deceased Ayush Ashna) it is also pertinent to mention here that by instant appearance
of sitting posture of body has been hanged by someone else as there may not be
sufficient pressure on neck in sitting posture of person and when height of
body is more than 5.8 feet.
14.
That the IIT Delhi administration since beginning of the present tragic
incident.
15.
That it is highly improbable that my son can hang himself from with the table
with the height of around four feet as my son was around 5.8 feet tall and
weighed around 75-80 kg. as it is also important to mention here that during
the periods of last four years with his stay in IIT Delhi not a single person
complained against him about anything.
16.
That IIT, Delhi as an educational institution, it is of utmost importance to
prioritize the well-being of students specially hailed from marginalized
society. The loss of my deceased son Ayush Ashna is not just an isolated
incident but a reflection of potential systemic deficiencies in the support and
resources available to students facing caste based discrimination and
harassment I feel compelled to bring the issue to your attention.
17.
That Conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances leading to
untimely and unnatural death of my son Ayush Ashna and assess whether any
deliberate negligence or oversight contributed to this tragedy.
18.
That the biased attitude of IIT Delhi is also neglecting in the conduct of the
IIT Delhi administration as on the fateful night, the concerned person IIT
Delhi prevented, the mother, brother and mama (maternal uncle) to follow the
ambulance upto the Safdarjung Hospital and confined the aforesaid person into
IIT guest house and on 9th July 2023 ambulance booked by the person concerned
present at mortuary, Safdarjung Hospital broke down midway and adding insult to
injury replacement ambulance arrived without equipped with freezer resultant
body decomposed rapidly and according the complainant was forced by
circumstances to perform last rites in the honour of departed soul during
midnight.
19.
That the till date no FIR, has been registered against the person/s responsible
for tragic demise of my son Ayush.
20.
That, the IIT Delhi administration is in process of suppressing vital
information and playing down the tragic demise of my son Ayush and treating it
as an another suicide case of due to study stress. And not even considering the
possibility of murdering of the student of the marginalized society.
21.
That as a grieving parents, we understand that this investigation cannot bring
our son back, but we hope that it may shed light on the circumstances
surrounding his untimely and unnatural death of my son Ayush and further under
the facts and circumstances as explained herein above, you are kindly requested
to order for registration of FIR against the person involved in this well
planned of our beloved young son Ayush Ashna and thorough and impartial
investigation be made into the case against the person responsible for doing
such heinous crime.
22.
That it is my sincere hope that your esteemed department will take this
complaint seriously and act promptly to do justice. By doing so, the esteemed
department can demonstrate its commitment to the well-being of its students
hailed from marginalized society and create a supportive environment that
fosters growth and resilience.
Sd/-
(Ramesh
Kumar)
Father
of deceased son Ayush Ashna
R/o
Plot No. 26, Lane No. 8,
Rameshwaram
Colony, Sacred Heart School
Bareiily-243122
M. No. 9068401586."
6. In the same manner, on
09.09.2023, the elder brother of Anil Kumai lodged a complaint in writing with
the Station House Officer Kishangarh, New Delhi which reads thus:
"Dated:
09.09.2023 To,
Station
House Officer Kishangarh, New Delhi
Subject:
Regarding the fearless murder of my younger brother Anil Kumar, S/o Suresh
Kumar - Village Anosa, District Banda, Uttar Pradesh. In connection with the
brutal murder due to racial hatred at IIT Delhi,
Sir,
I, Amit
Kumar S/o Suresh Kumar, Village Anosa District Banda, Uttar Pradesh. Date
01.09.2023 in 7:25 I received call from someone who is saying I am professor,
Aditya Mittal, who are of you Anil Kumar? I told him I am his elder brother.
Then he said that Anil Kumar has committed suicide. After that I received lots
of call from different phone numbers.
Between
the calls a college security officer named Balram Yadav also Call me (mob no.
9650612090) and told me that Anil Kumar committed suicide.
Then
around 10:30 PM Mobile No.991632959, 1 got call saying that I am calling from
Kishangarh IIT Delhi Anil Kumar committed suicide come to Delhi. I with my
brother Aashis Kumar, brother in law Vimal Kumar, brother in law Vinod Kumar,
mother Vidya Devi, wife Sunaina devi left for Delhi.
On
Dated 2-9-23 approx 7:30 AM we reached to Delhi. We called the same mobile
number ofKishangarh police station and said, we have reached to Delhi but we
are not able to find the way to the police station, you come and take us.
Police said, you come yourself, we cannot come, we can send you the location. I
said I don't understand. But police did not come to us.
After
that I calledBalram Yadav stating that I don 'tknow the way to the College,
please send someone to pick me up. So they sent two guards who took us to the
college guest house and did not give us any information for the next 2 hours.
On our continued request, we were taken to Anil Kumar's hostel Vindhyanchal.
Where the gate was locked. When we asked the college to open the lock, they
said that the key is with the police.
Then
someone told that there is a window, it will be visible from there, when I
looked through the window, there was a lot of blood on the table and floor in
the room. There were some other things lying in the room. We took videos and
photos, then after seeing all this I said that my brother was murdered because
of caste hatred. This is not suicide, my brother cannot commit suicide. He knew
very well the situation at home and the circumstances how were we teaching him.
On 27-08-23 I sent Anil Kumar 15,000/- money for buying new mobile phone. On
29-08-23 he called me and told me that the mobile is working well. Then I asked
him, is there anything like that? So he told me that sometimes inappropriate
case based words are used by the teacher. Then I called 9971632959, which is SI
Dharmendra ji's mobile number, I told him that my brother was murdered, he is
not commit suicide. Our family members were deeply shocked by Anil's murder.
SI
Dharmendra ji asked me to come Kishangarh police station, I again said, I do
not know the way to Kishangarh police station.
Then he
said that you have to come here. At around 11:00 a.m., Balram Yadav or some
other people brought us to Kishangarh police station. At the police station, SI
Dharmendra ji showed the video on mobile and laptop, I watched the video and
told SI Dharmendra ji that this was not suicide but murder due to caste hatred.
But he did not agree and kept saying again and again that it was suicide not
murder. Then he introduced us to SHO Sir. SHO Sir said that his marks were low
and he had failed in one subject, due to which he committed suicide. We said,
again because of caste hatred Anil was murdered. We have come from his college,
professor Simon a madam who was his professor told us that Anil was very good
in, studies, his marks never go down, nor can he commit suicide still police
officials said it was suicide, not murder. Then we were made, to sign many
papers and at around 12:10 pm, the police took us to ACT Yadav Sir of Sarojini
Nagar police station, he also told us that Anil Kumar had committed suicide
because his number was low then. I told him that 1 had talked to Anil Kumar on
29-08-23, he had told that sometimes, inappropriate case based words are used
by the teacher otherwise everything is OK. Sir, he has been murdered. We demand
CBI investigation for my brother at approx 12:40 pm police officer take us to
Safdarjung hospital. Were got a lot of papers signed at the police station in
the hospital. When the media persons tried to talk to us in. the hospital, the
police told us that we cannot talk to the media. We kept requesting the police
to show the body of Anil Kumar for 2 hours, but the police refused. Then before
the post mortem at 2:40 pm they took me, Vinod Kumar and Aashis to see the
body. When we saw the body of Anil Kumar, there was red coloured cloth on the
neck, we tried to remove the cloth the police or the doctor told us that the
cloth could not be removed or nor we touch the body. Anil was murdered because
of ruthless caste hatred, despite our repeated requests for the reason of
asking the police did not remove the cloth and said that a video is being made,
you can watch it. Blood was coming out from the ears of Anil Kumar and there
was a lot of smell from the body, then we came out, after the post mortem we
asked the police to show the CCTV camera of the college and Anil Kumar's room.
The police showed the video of 10 or 15 minutes, after that they told us this
will take time don't waste time. I. asked the police office to give us the CCTV
videos or to record the videos The policeman kept our phones, safe in his car
and said that we could not make videos. Then we were taken to Anil Kumar's
room. There was a lot of blood and other things lying on the table or floor of
the room. Then, I told to the police that how could this much of blood come
from hanging. This is a murder committed due to caste hatred. Then we took the
body from, the hospital and came to the Banda and after coming to Muktidhaam we
opened the body and saw that there was soot on his mouth, hand and foot. We did
videos and photos and on 03-09-2023 at 9:45 am Ani 's last rites were performed
then I remembered ones when Anil Kumar comes to home in may on vacation. Then
he told me that, by the some of the college teacher always used caste
indicative word and they said that 'how did you came here, you don't have right
to study, this is not for you guys.' I called SI Dharmendraji three four times,
but he did not pick up my call. Then I called later to asking when will the PM
report come, he said that it will be received after 15 days, then I said why is
it getting so late, he said, this is what happens. Just like my brother Anil
Kumar was murdered on the basis of caste hatred.
Similarly,
something similar happened with Ayush student of the same department. And I
have come to my knowledge that SC caste students are treated very badly in UT
Delhi.
I
request you Sir that my brother Anil Kumar has been murdered because of Caste
Hatred. So register a case against culprits and take legal action. I want
justice.
SaV-
Amit
Kumar Applicant Dated 09.09.2023."
7. The record further reveals
that a letter was addressed by an Advocate named Mahmood Pracha of New Delhi to
the Chief Secretary, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi on
13.09.2023, seeking directions to the Delhi Police to register the F.I.R. in
connection with the suspicious deaths of the two students referred to above.
The letter reads thus:
"Dated
13th September 2023
To
The
Chief Secretary
Government
of National Capital Region of Delhi
Delhi
Secretariat, IP Estate,
New
Delhi-110002
Subject:
Request for directions to Delhi Police for registering FIR and effective and
proper implementation of provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code and
provisions under the Schedule Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act and Rules made thereunder-Regarding-
Dear
Sir,
I am
constrained to inform you about the caste-based atrocities that were committed
on the members of the following families belonging to the Scheduled Caste
community due to which they have lost their sons who were studying at Indian
Institute of Technology New Delhi.
The
members of both the families have exercised their rights- under Section
15-A(12) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities)
Act 1989 (Hereinafter referred to as "SOST(POA) ACT" and Rule 4(5) of
the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995
(Hereafter referred to as SC/ST (POA) Rules), which provide that the atrocity
victims have the right to take assistance from NGOs, social workers or Advocates,
and have sought my assistance as an Advocate to pursue their ease as they are
facing continuous hardships, and further atrocities, from the erring
Government/police officials in the murder of both the victims/deceased namely
Mr Anil Kumar s/o late Shri Suresh Kumar resident ofBanda District of Uttar
Pradesh, and Mr. Ayush Ashna s/o Mr. Ramesh Kumar, resident of Bareilly, U.P.
Pursuant
to their request for assistance under Section 15-A(12) "SC/ST (POA)
Act" and Rule 4(5) "SC/ST (POA) Rules"), I have met the members
of both families of the victims/deceased, namely Anil Kumar s/o late Shri
Suresh Kumar resident ofBanda District of Uttar Pradesh, and Mr. Ayush Ashna
s/o Mr. Ramesh Kumar resident of Bareilly, U.P. After the meetings based on the
information given to me by them, which clearly shows gross culpability on part
of police, teachers, professors, other officials, and some of unknown students
in these cases, in helping the accused to escape the lawful punishment, I am
compelled to inform you that there has been a flagrant violation/disobedience
of most of the mandatory provisions of the SC/ST (POA) Act by various
officials.
The
brief facts of both the matters are given below which are elaborated in the
respective complaints.
a) Mr.
Amit Kumar S/O late Shri Suresh Kumar, a resident of Village Anousa, Distt.
Banda Uttar Pradesh presently residing at New Delhi has filed a complaint with
SHO Kishan Garh New Delhi vide DD No. 71A dated 9th September 2023 and also
with the office of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) on 11/09/2023 vide diary
No 11416 regarding gruesome and brutal murder of his younger brother, Mr. Anil
Kumar, under mysterious circumstances due to caste related atrocities and
discrimination committed on 01.09.2023 upon him in the premises of Indian
Institute of Technology, Delhi, wherein he was studying. A copy of the said
complaint is attached herewith as Annexure-I.
b)
Another complaint filed by Mr. Ramesh Kumar, a resident of Rameshwar Colony,
Bareilly with the Office of Deputy Commissioner of Police (South West), Vasant
Vihar New Delhi on 26.07.2023 vide diary No. 9584 regarding gruesome and brutal
murder of his son Mr. Ayush Ashna again tinder mysterious circumstances, due to
caste related atrocities committed upon him and caste based discrimination in
the premises of IIT, Delhi, who was studying there and residing in Udaigiri
Hostel of Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi. A copy of the said
complaint is also attached herewith as Annexure-II.
Needless
to say that both the families are devastated by unnatural and mysterious death
of victims (deceased persons) and they are running from pillar to posts for the
justice so that guilty are punished. However, the Police have not registered
any FIR in either case so far.
In this
regard, the following submissions are made for your kind perusal and immediate
action.
1. That
in both the cases, there are serious allegations of gruesome murder of their
sons, who were otherwise quite academically brilliant, due to cast based,
atrocities and discrimination in the IIT Delhi.
2. That
under the provisions of SCZST(POA) Act, 1989, it is mandatory to lodge an FIR
without any preliminary enquiry or investigation, as mandated under section 18
A of the Act.
3. That
Rule 5 of the SC/ST (PoA) Rules, 1995 also provides that every information
relating to the commission of an offence under the Act, if given orally to an
officer in-charge of a police station, shall, be reduced to writing by him or
under his direction, and be read over to the informant, and every such
information, whether given in writing, or reduced to writing as aforesaid,
shall be signed by the persons giving it, and the substance thereof shall be
entered m a book to be maintained by that police station.
4. That
the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, in Lalita Kumari vs State of UP has held
that "Registration of FIR is mandatory under Section 154 of the Code, if
the information discloses commission of a cognizable offence and no preliminary
inquiry is permissible in such a situation ".
5. That
provisions under Section 4(2) of the SC/ST (POA) Act, 1989 provides for certain
duties of public servant referred to in sub-section (1) that includes -
a) to
read out to an informant the information given orally and reduced to writing by
the officer in charge of the police station before taking the signature of the
informant.
b) to
register a complaint or a First Information Report under this Act and other
relevant provisions and to register it under appropriate sections of Act;
c) to
furnish a copy of the information so recorded forthwith to the informant;
6. That
any violations of the provisions under SCZST(PoA) Act and dereliction of duty
referred to in sub section (2) by a public servant entails penal proceeding
against such public servant.
7. That
the section 15A of the said Act provides for the statutory duty and
responsibility of the State to make arrangements for the protection of various
rights of the victims, their dependents as laid down therein, and to ensure the
implementation of such rights and entitlements of the victims, and witnesses in
accessing the justice.
8. That
section 17 of the said Act casts an obligation upon the District Magistrate, or
a Sub-Divisional Magistrate, or any Executive Magistrate, or even any Police
officer, to declare such an area to be an area prone to atrocities where such
atrocities are committed or likely to be committed and take necessary
preventive action.
9. That
Section 21 provides that the State Government shall take such measures as may
be necessary for effective implementation of the Act.
10.
That Rule 3 of the SOST(PoA) Rules, 1995, provides that State government shall
take precautionary and preventive measures with a view to prevent atrocities on
the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes including identification of the area
where it has reason to believe that atrocity may take place, constitution of a
high power State-level committee, district and divisional level committees, or
such number of other committees as it may deem proper and necessary for
assisting the Government in implementation of the provisions of the Act, to
setup a vigilance and monitoring committee to suggest effective measures to
implement the provisions of the Act, etc.
11.That
the provisions of other various Rules under the SCZST(PoA) Rules, 1995 provide
for the obligations and duties on the State Government such as setting up of
the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes Protection Cell under Rules 8,
Nomination of Nodal Officers under Rule 9 for coordinating the functioning of
the District Magistrates, and Superintendent of Police, or other officers
authorized by them, investigating officers and: other officers responsible for
implementing the provisions of the Act, Measures to be taken by the District
Administration under Rule 12, specific responsibility of the state Government
under Ruie 14 to make necessary provisions in its annual budget for providing
relief and rehabilitation facilities to the victims of atrocity, to frame
contingency Plan under Rule 15 for implementing the provisions of the Act and
notify the same in the: Official Gazette of the State Government, Constitution
of State Level high power Vigilance and Monitoring Committee under Rule 16,
District level committee under Rule 17 and Sub Divisional Level under Rule 17A,
to review the implementation of provisions of the Act, relief and
rehabilitation facilities provided to the victims, and other matters connected
therewith, prosecution of cases under the Act, role of different officers/agencies
responsible for implementing the provisions of the Act, etc.
12.
That despite the above provisions contained in said SC/ST (PoA) Act, 1989 and
Rules made there under, and directions issued by Hon'ble Supreme Court of India
in Lalita Kumari vs State of UP, police have not yet registered FIR in both the
matters in respect of above mentioned complaints cases, and hence flouted all
the provisions of the said Act and Rules made thereunder, but also the
provisions of Criminal Procedure Code.
In view
of the above circumstances, and fact of the above-mentioned cases, you are
humbly requested to kindly issue necessary directions to the Police to lodge
FIR in both the cases at tile earliest and provide the copy of the same to the
complainants.
You are
also requested to kindly order for immediate compliance of all the above-named
provisions of the SC/ST (POA) Act, 1989 and SC/ST (POA) Rules, 1995 made
thereunder by the concerned officials.
You are
also requested to take immediate action under Section 4 of the SC/ST (POA) Act,
1989 against the concerned police officials of concerned police station namely
Kishan Garh, and concerned DCP office of Vasant Vihar for not registering the
FIR and deliberately changing the true version given by the, family members of
the deceased to help the erring police/government officials, and also action
against other officials for not undertaking their duties as per the mandate of
the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989,
who have till now disobeyed the above-mentioned mandatory provisions of the
SC/ST (POA) Act, 1989.
Thanking
you
Mehmood
Pracha
Advocate
C-66,
Second Floor
Nizamuddin
East
New
Delhi, 110013
Ph.
No. 011-41404040"
8. The record reveals that all
that was done by the Police was an inquiry under Section 174 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure (for short, "the CrPC"). At the end of the
inquiry, the Police reached the conclusion that the two students had committed
suicide due to depression. In other words, the Police closed the matter saying
that the two students were unable to cope up with the pressure of their
respective studies and in such circumstances they both committed suicide in
their respective hostel rooms.
9. However, the fact remains that
at no point of time the Police thought fit to register the F.I.R. in accordance
with the provisions of Section 154 of the CrPC and carry out the investigation
in accordance with law, more particularly when complaints were lodged - one by
the father and another by the brother of the two students prima facie
disclosing commission of a cognizable offence.
10. In such circumstances
referred to above, the appellants herein preferred a writ petition before the
High Court of Delhi and prayed for issuing a writ of mandamus to the Police to
register an F.I.R. and undertake the investigation.
11. The Delhi High Court declined
to entertain the writ petition and rejected the same.
12. In such circumstances, the
appellants are here before this Court with the present appeal.
B. SUBMISSIONS ON BEHALF OF THE
APPELLANTS
13. The appellants in their
written submissions have stated thus:
i. That
the present Written Submissions are being filed by the Petitioners in terms of
the Order dated 07.01.2024 passed in the present SLP.
ii.
That the Petitioners have filed the present SLP against the impugned Order
dated 30.01.2024 passed by the Hon 'ble High Court of Delhi in Writ Petition
(Criminal) No. 2945 of 2023, whereby the Writ Petition filed, inter alia, by
the Petitioners for registration of FIRs in respect of the death of two
students of the IIT Delhi, i.e. the respective sons of the Petitioners No. 2
and 3, was dismissed.
iii.
That despite categorical Complaints (Annexure P-l @ page 56 of the SLP and
Annexure P-2 @page 63 of the SLP) given by the Petitioners, which disclosed
several cognizable offences, the Police had failed to register the FIRs. The
Police had merely conducted an eyewash inquiry as part of the inquest
proceedings, and had recorded false statements attributed to the Petitioners
and their family members (Please refer to Paragraph 10 of the Counter
Affidavit, and respective Paragraph Wise Rejoinders filed by the Petitioners)
in order to present a case of suicide of the deceased students. It is submitted
that the Petitioners No. 1 and 2 had stated in their Complaint itself (Annexure
P-2) that they had been asked to sign on several papers without being informed
about their nature.
iv.
That the Petitioners had filed the Writ Petition before the Hon 'ble High Court
on account of the extremely biased and prejudicial conduct on part of the
concerned Police officials, who had categorically stated that they would not
register an FIR under any circumstances, and would be willing to face any
consequences (Please refer to Paragraph 13 of the original Writ Petition
Annexure P-4 @ page 96 of the SLP). The Petitioners had also, inter alia,
sought a CBI investigation before the Hon 'ble High Court, and monitoring of
such investigation. As such, in these circumstances, an application under Section
156(3) of the CrPC was not an efficacious remedy for the Petitioners.
v. That
it is further submitted that the Hon 'ble High Court had failed to appreciate
that even if the case of the Police is taken at its face value, and it is
assumed that the students died due to suicide, it is still incumbent on the
Police to register the FIRs on the Complaints made to it, and investigate the
abetment of such possible suicide within the campus of the IIT Delhi.
vi.
That it is submitted that the IIT Delhi Administration had failed to put forth
its case before the Hon 'ble High Court, and has failed to even appear before
this Hon 'ble Court despite service, to present its version of events, and its
stand. There has been no manner of support or assistance by the IIT Delhi
Administration for the parents and the family members of the deceased students.
It is submitted that such oblivious and disinterested conduct on part of the
IIT Delhi Administration, towards a case involving the death of its two
students within its campus in a span of less than two months, further
strengthens the case of the Petitioners that an investigation is necessary into
these deaths.
vii.
That it is submitted that the Police has, for the first time before this Hon
'ble Court, placed on record the Post Mortem Reports of the deceased students
and the purported statements recorded during the inquest proceedings, including
those stated to have been given by the Petitioners and their family members. It
is submitted that the statements attributed to the Petitioners and their family
members are doctored and false, which is besides the fact that the Hon 'ble
High Court had failed to call for these documents from the Police, and had
simply relied upon a concocted Status Report, contents whereof had been categorically
rebutted by the Petitioners.
viii.
That it is settled law that at the stage of registration of FIR, the Police has
to simply consider whether a cognizable offence is made out or not, from the
information/complaint. It is submitted that in violation of the settled
proposition of law, and in complete derogation of the procedure prescribed by
the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (as was then applicable), and Section 18A
of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989,
the Police has conducted a detailed inquiry without registering an FIR for the
sole purpose of substantiating a predetermined conclusion, i.e., that the
deceased students had committed suicide due to academic pressure. It is
submitted that the record itself reflects that the deaths of these students
require detailed and thorough investigations, which cannot be initiated, let
alone concluded, without registration of FIRs.
ix.
That hence, it is submitted that this Hon 'ble Court may kindly be pleased to
issue necessary directions for registration of the FIRs into the deaths of the
deceased students, investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI),
and may kindly be pleased to monitor the investigation."
C. SUBMISSIONS ON BEHALF OF THE
RESPONDENT NOS. 2, 3, 4 AND 7 RESPECTIVELY
14. The respondent nos. 2, 3, 4
and 7 in their written submissions have stated thus:
"1. Names of deceased:
(i)
Ayush (death on 08.0 7.2023) (H) Anil (death on 01.09.2023)
2.
Complaints dated28.07.2023 & 9.9.2023 were lodged before Police by parents
of deceased alleging caste-based discrimination in the hostel and that they
have been murdered.
3. Then
WP (Crl.) No. 2945 of 2023 was filed before the Hon 'ble High Court of Delhi
praying for direction to register FIR and an independent inquiry in caste-based
atrocities.
4. In
view of the above said complaints, it submitted that a fair enquiry was
conducted under Section 174 CrPC in both the cases which is as follows:
A. IN CASE OF DECEASED A
YUSHASHNA
i. On
8.7.2023: Upon receiving a PCR call regarding suicide of a student in Udayagiri
Hostel, IIT Delhi, police officials reached the spot i.e. Room No. WH-02 7th
floor, Udayagiri Hostel, IIT, New Delhi.
In the
presence of IIT staff, mother, brother of deceased and maternal uncle of
deceased, the door of the room which was locked from inside was broken wherein
it w aw found that Ayush was found hanging.
Post
Mortem Report (R-l @pg. 11-13) : Death is due to asphyxia as a result of
hanging due to ligature. However, viscera has been preserved to rule out any
concomitant poisoning/intoxication.
ii.
Annexure R-3 (a),V2. 17-42
During
the course of enquiry, statements of Father, Brother and other
relatives/friends of the deceased was recorded in which it was found that Ayush
Ashna had failed in some of the subjects in prior semester exams due to which
he was under depression and because of that he might have taken this extreme
step. They further denied any foul play or any suspicion regarding the death of
Ayush.
a.
Ramesh (Father of Ayush): Ayush took this step under depression. He does not
have any doubt on death of his son.
b.
Rahul (Brother of Ayush): I am also IIT Delhi pas out. Ayush was under
depression due to failing. The hostel door was broken in front of us.
Ayush
had committed suicide on table by plastic rope and extension wire. There is
only one way entry and exit to the room of my brother, which was locked from
inside. I do not have any doubt on death of my brother.
c.
Sushma (Mother of Ayush): He was not picking calls since morning of 8.7.2023.
He was in tension due to failing in one or two subjects, room as broken in
front of us, I do not have any doubt on death of my son.
d.
Praveen (Professor and in charge SC/ST Cell: since his appointment in SC/ST
cell, he never received any complaint of caste based discrimination from Anil
and Ayush.
e.
Geratony Abhishek (student): Both Late Anil Kumar and Ayush were students of my
class. I am also studying in extended period and both students were also studying
in extended period. He had received one WhatsApp message from Ayush regarding
his one semester due. There was no caste based discrimination with the
deceased. I also belong to SC caste but there was never any caste based
misbehaviour with me and there is no partition on caste basis.
f Kaushal Verma (student): Being from SC
category I have never faced any caste based remarks.
g.
Pritish (student): Late Anil and Ayush were also studying in extended period.
There is no discrimination on caste basis. I am also from SC and there has
never been any misbehaviour. in. Annexure R 4(a)V2. 43
Grade
reports of Ayush Ashna were collected from the IIT and it was found that during
the 2nd semester period of year 2022-2023, he had failed in some of the
subjects and got lower grades (Grade F, in 5 out of 7 subjects which stands for
Very Poor.
B. IN
CASE OF DECEASED ANIL KUMAR
i. It
is submitted that on dated 1.9.2023, a PCR call was received regarding suicide
of student in Vindhayachal Hostel, IIT Delhi. On reach the spot i.e. Room No.
EA -18, Ground Floor, Vindhayachal Hostel, IIT, New Delhi, it was found that
the same was locked and smell was coming from inside. Accordingly, in the
presence of IIT staff members and the police, the door of the room was broken.
Anil was found hanging from the ceiling fan of his room with the help
ofbedsheet and towel. The body was in a decomposed state.
Post
Mortem Report (R-2(a)v214-16):
"Death
is due to asphyxia consequent to ante-mortem compression of neck by ligature
".
Annexure R-3 (a)P2. 17-42:
Statements
of brother Amit, mother, hostel staff and friends were taken who stated that
Anil was under depression due to less marks:
a. Amit
(brother of Anil): Anil was student of 2019-2023 session, for 2 years he stayed
at home. On 30.8.2023,1 talked with Anil and he was under depression due to
fail and less marks in exams. On 01.09.2023, I got a call from IIT that Anil
has hanged himself from a ceiling fan. I have no doubt but enquiry be done.
b. Vidya
Devi (Mother of Anil): For 2 years he stayed at home due to lockdown, due to
less marks Anil was under depression, enquiry be done.
c.
Naveen Kumar (student): Anil was my classmate and his room was near to my room.
His position in studies was not good. Anil never complained about caste
discrimination, and he always remained alone and did not talk with others. I
have never seen or heard any caste-based discrimination.
d.
Vaibhav Shivrani (student): I am house secretary in Vindhyachal Hostel and my
work is to forward the complaint of students and there was never any issue
ofST/SC with Anil.
e. Anil
Nawani (Security Inspector): Guard of Vindhyachal Hostel called on 1.9.2023
that bad smell is coming from room No. EA-18. The window was opened from behind
of the room and deceased was seen hanging from fan.
f
Kailash Meena (student of Room No. EA-17): Foul smell was coming and on
knocking room no. EA-18 there was no response and just below the door yellow
liquid was seen and flies were there, informed the guard.
ii. On
09.09.2023 Amit Kumar (Petitioner/brother of the deceased) gave a written
complaint in the police station, alleging caste- based discrimination by his
teachers and other faculty members and murder. He had also alleged that there
was some kind of bleeding from ears of the dead body and blood stains were
scattered all over the room which cannot be an incident of suicide.
iii.
Accordingly, further enquiry was conducted. It was found there was no column
revealing the category of the student whether he/she belongs to SC/ST/General
category in any of the forms, only entry number was mentioned in all the forms.
Annexure
R-4 (a)ps. 44: He failed in two subjects out of seven subjects in Illrd
semester. In IVth semester he took only one subject and he failed in the same.
In next year (2021-2022) he did not pass any subject. In Vllth semester he
failed in one subject out of six. In VIlIth semester he failed in two subjects
out of six subjects. He was given an extension to complete his subjects.
5. In
the Hostel allotment letters it was found that there was no column revealing
the category of the students as to whether she/he belongs to SC/ST/General
category in any of the form.
6. The
Hon 'ble High Court found that no complaint was ever given by any of the
deceased students to the police, SC/ST cell ofHT Delhi or to any of their
friends regarding caste-based discrimination and held that mandamus as prayed
cannot be issued in the present case.
7.
That, during the course of enquiry, the allegations levelled could not be
corroborated and nothing came on record to substantiate the same. "
D. SUBMISSIONS ON BEHALF OF THE
RESPONDENT NO. 5 - IIT DELHI
15. IIT, Delhi in their written
submissions have stated thus:
"1.
That the present Special Leave Petition has been preferred against impugned
Final Order and Judgment dated 30.01.2024 passed by the Hon 'ble High Court of
Delhi in Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 2945 of 2023, whereby the Hon 'ble High
Court rightly dismissed the Writ Petition as it was devoid of merits.
2.
Briefly stated that both Mr. Anil Kumar and Mr. Ayush Ashna were students ofB.
Tech in the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (hereinafter referred to as
"IIT, Delhi") and that Petitioner no. 1 and Petitioner no. 2 are the
brother and mother of Anil Kumar and Petitioner No. 3 is the parent of Ayush
Ashna.
3. That
Mr. Ayush Ashna was found dead on 08.07.2023 at his Hostel Room No. WH-02,
Seventh Floor, Udaigiri Hostel, IIT, New Delhi and another student, namely, Mr.
Anil Kumar was found dead on 01.09.2023 in his Hostel Room No. FA-18, Ground
Floor, Vindhyachal Hostel, IIT, New Delhi.
4. It
is pertinent to mention at this juncture that the death of both the students
were approximately two months apart and both the deaths cannot be interlinked
to each other in any way.
Brief
facts surrounding the death of Mr. Ayush Ashna:
5. That
on the night of 8th July 2023, at approximately 2300 hrs., Ayush Ashna's mother
called the reception of Udaigiri hostel and informed the guard on duty that her
son Ayush Ashna, resident of Room No. WH-02, was not answering his phone. She
also requested the guard to look for him.
6.
Subsequently, the guard went to Room No. WH-02 and found that it was locked
from inside. The guard knocked several times, and on not receiving any
response, immediately reported the matter to the Security Control room as per
protocol. The Security team rushed to the hostel room and knocked, but there
was still no response.
7. The
Security staff then looked inside the room through the ventilator and saw what
appeared to be a non-moving body with the neck rolled to one side, hanged to an
inverted study table. The matter was immediately reported to Delhi Police and
other IIT Delhi authorities. IITDelhi authorities reached the hostel main gate
within minutes and almost simultaneously and independently, without having any
further contact with the Answering Respondent, the student's mother, brother,
and maternal uncle also arrived at the hostel.
8. That
while the Hostel warden was speaking with the student's parent/relatives, Delhi
police PCR also reached the hostel main gate. The situation was now under the
charge of Delhi Police who took over and reported the matter as per law.
9. It
is submitted that at this juncture, everyone present, including the family was
informed by the Police of the tragedy. The Police took over the scene and
initiated their official procedures. When the family requested that they be
allowed to go inside the room, the Police said that the Crime Branch was on the
way and asked them to wait for the Inquiry Officer (hereinafter referred to as
"I.O. ") to arrive at the spot.
10.
Thereafter, within another few minutes, the Police team from the Kishangarh
Police Station arrived. The police then broke open the room door following due
procedure, and in the presence of the family; inside a body was discovered and
identified by the family as that ofAyush Ashna.
11. Two
doctors from the IIT Delhi hospital confirmed the body to be lifeless.
Subsequently, the crime branch also arrived, took charge of the scene, and
spoke with the family.
Post
suicide information
12. The
tragic news was a shock to all present. IIT Delhi personnel provided all
possible assistance during this challenging time and faithfully followed all
instructions from the Police and Crime Branch. All possible support for the
family was ensured, including a medical doctor and a counsellor was provided by
IIT Delhi.
13. It
is submitted that IIT Delhi is fully committed towards the safety and security
of its students. After receiving the telephone call from the student's mother,
IIT Delhi security responded and acted as swiftly as possible and informed the
Delhi police immediately- all within 30 minutes of the initial telephone call.
Delhi police also arrived most promptly within minutes.
14. It
is submitted that as per the postmortem report of the deceased Ayush Ashna, the
cause of death was held to be asphyxia as a result of hanging due to ligature.
15.
Thereafter, an enquiry was conducted to understand the cause of death. During
the course of enquiry, statements of father, brother, other relatives and
friends of the deceased were recorded in which it was found that the deceased
had failed in some of the subjects in the prior semester exams due to which he
was under depression.
16.
Consequently, the grade reports of Ayush Ashna were seen and it was found that
during the 2nd semester of year 2022-23, he had failed in some of the subjects
and got lower grades i.e., Grade F which stands for Very Poor in 5 out of 7 subjects.
17. It
is pertinent to mention herein that no complaints regarding any caste-based
discrimination have been found and there is no record of any complaint being
received from the deceased or any of his family members since 2019-2020 by the
College authorities. It is further pertinent to note that during the enquiry,
the relatives of the deceased denied any foul play or suspicion regarding the
death of the deceased.
18.
Thereafter, father of the deceased, namely, Ramesh Kumar gave a written
complaint to the police station on 26.07.2023, wherein it was alleged that his
son Ayush Ashna was facing caste-based discrimination by his hostel mates and
other faculty members during the beginning of his academic year 2019-2020 and
he also suspected in the complaint that his son could not have taken such steps
and someone might have killed his son with the connivance of faculty members.
19.
That IIT Delhi took due consideration to the complaint filed by the deceased
student's father and therefore submitted a point-by-point response dated
14.08.2023 to the representation made by Mr. Ramesh Kumar to clarify his doubts
regarding his Complaints surrounding his son's death.
Brief
facts of case surrounding the death of Mr. Anil Kumar:
20. It
is submitted that Anil Kumar had taken admission in IIT Delhi in 2019 in
B.Tech, Mathematics and Computing and he was allotted Room No. SD-11,
Vindhyachal Hostel at the time of admission. During the semester period of
2020-21 and 2022-23, he got low grades in some of the subjects.
21.
That the deceased Anil Kumar extended his stay at the hostel for the
preparation of remaining subjects and completing the course and the same was
granted by the relevant department immediately. Subsequently, he was allotted
Room No. EA-18, Vindhyachal Hostel.
22. It
is submitted that the deceased could not clear some subjects and was residing
in hostel on further six months extension. As per the rules, his hostel was to
be vacated in June but as he could not qualify some subjects, he was given
extension for six months to clear the exams.
23. It
is submitted that the deceased passed all the subjects in 1st year but he later
failed in two subjects out of seven subjects in 3rd semester. Thereafter, in
4th semester he took only one subject and failed in the same, in the following
year (2021-22) he failed to pass any subject, in 7th semester he failed in one
subject out of six subjects and finally in 8th semester he failed in two
subjects out of six subjects and therefore, he was given an extension to clear
all the subjects. Therefore, in toto, the deceased Anil Kumar was failing in
two subjects out of seven subjects in 3rd semester, in 4th semester he took
only one subject and failed in the same, in the following year he failed to
pass any subject, in 7th semester he failed in one subject out of six subjects
and in 8th semester he failed in two subjects out of six subjects.
24. It
is pertinent to note that the students are nowhere required to reveal the
category as to whether the students belong to SC/ST/General category. Hostel
allotment letters also prove that there was no column revealing the category of
the students in any of the form and only entry number was mentioned in all the
forms and thus, no evidence of caste-based discrimination against the deceased
was found.
25.
That on the evening of 1st September 2023, at around 5pm, a student residing in
one of the ground floor wings in Vindhyachal hostel reported a foul smell to
the hostel caretaker. Thereafter, it was found that the neighbouring room 's
door was locked from inside and glass panes of the grilled window facing the
hostel basketball court were also shut with the curtains drawn.
26.
Consequently, the warden and security were immediately called, who then reached
the hostel. The security unit pried open the window-pane from outside and
undrew the curtain. They discovered a hanging body.
Post
suicide information
27. The
security immediately called the police and the warden informed the Dean Student
Affairs. The Dean and Associate Dean reached Vindhyachal hostel within minutes.
Three Counsellors were also immediately called, and arrived within minutes, to
talk to other residents of the hostel.
28. By
approximately 06:10 PM, the police and fire department personnel arrived at the
hostel, followed by Crime branch. The Chief Medical Officer of IIT Delhi was
also called, who immediately arrived at the hostel. The police then took over
the proceedings, the ACP arrived at approximately 07:10 PM and their fire
personnel broke the door open at approximately 07:15 PM. The body was
identified as that of student Anil Kumar residing in the room as per records.
29.
Immediately, upon identification of the body, IIT Delhi officials tried
contacting the mobile numbers of family, provided as per the student records.
By approximately 1930 hrs., Mr. Amit Kumar, elder brother of the student, could
be contacted on the phone. He was informed of the tragic loss and was requested
to reach IIT Delhi at the earliest possible. Mr. Amit Kumar informed that they
had lost their father a few months ago, and at the present time the whole
family was in their village 600-700 Km away from Delhi. They will try to reach
by the morning of 2nd Sept. 2023.
30.
Thereafter, Director, Dy Director Operations, Registrar, Dy. Registrar Student
Affairs also reached the hostel. An ambulance was called and the police took
custody of the body at approximately 2050 hrs. for transporting to the
Safdarjung hospital mortuary.
31.
Thereafter, postmortem of the deceased was conducted vide PM No. 2048/23,
wherein the cause of death was held to be "asphyxia consequent to
ante-mortem compression of neck by ligature ".
32. It
is submitted that Mr. Amit Kumar, along with his family, reached IIT Delhi
faculty guest house by approximately 0730 hrs. on the morning of 2nd Sept.
2023. Warden, SC/ST Liaison Officer, former SC/ST advisor, Head Counsellor,
Director, Dean, Associate Dean met with the family. On their request, family
were taken to Vindhyachal hostel to look at the student's room from outside.
33. During
the course of enquiry, statements of the brother, mother, other relatives and
friends of the deceased were recorded who stated that due to scoring less marks
in exams, deceased was under stress.
34. It
is pertinent to mention herein that the family and relatives of deceased
further denied any foul play or any suspicion regarding the death of the
deceased.
35.
Academically, Anil Kumar had finished a little less than 50% of the 150 credits
required for the award of a BTech degree. He was identified as a student who
was underperforming academically. His advisor reached out to him;
unfortunately, a meeting did not materialize.
36.
Outside of academics, he had not approached the counselling unit for any
assistance. In the first week of June 2023, he had informed the hostel
caretaker, while beginning his extended hostel stay, that he had lost his
father. Below is the hostel residence history of Mr. Anil Kumar (2019MT10674)
as per records:
(i)
Pre-pandemic: Resident of Vindhyachal hostel from 15th July 2019 till vacating
due to pandemic.
(ii)
Post-pandemic: Resident of Vindhyachal hostel from 19th April 2022 till current
date. After completion of applicable tenure of 8 semesters, the student
requested extension of stay for completion of remaining credits on 1st June
2023 (extension request form was duly recommended and forwarded by Course
Advisor and Head of Department of Mathematics). Extension of stay was granted
as per rules, either till end of 1st Sem 2023-24 or 26th Dec. 2023 (whichever
is earlier), on 2nd June 2023.
37. It
was only on 09.09.2023, that Mr. Amit Kumar (brother of Anil Kumar) gave a
written Complaint in the Police station, wherein he alleged that Anil Kumar was
facing caste-based discrimination by his teachers and other faculty members. It
is pertinent to bring to the notice of this Hon 'ble Court that this is the
first time any such Complaint of caste-based discrimination was being heard of
from the deceased or his family.
Submissions:
38.
That it is the policy of the institution that before the start of every
semester, students who have previously underperformed academically are
identified. Then they are advised to take a slower pace academic program to
avoid overburdening. Their respective faculty advisors are notified as to their
deteriorating academic performance and are asked to contact their advisees for
any help with the scholastic pursuits. Thereafter, the faculty advisors contact
the students, and on a regular basis continue to contact, to discuss any issues
that they might have with respect to their course and graduation plans.
39.
During the time relevant for the present case, the same procedure was followed
and about 10% of students were recommended for counselling sessions through
this intervention, and a handful of students were identified as requiring
language support.
40. It
is submitted that the institution takes every complaint regarding caste-based
discrimination with utmost seriousness and the apprehensions of the parents of
the deceased were also duly considered. In this regard, a thorough enquiry was
conducted wherein statements of family and friends of the deceased were
recorded and several other students of IIT, Delhi who belonged to Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes were also examined. During this enquiry, not even a
single assertion cropped up which suggested that the deceased students were
murdered in the campus and as a matter of fact, none of those students had ever
reported any caste-based discrimination either by any faculty members or
anybody else within the institution.
41. It
is also pertinent to mention herein that no complaint was ever given by either
of the deceased students to the Police or to the SC/ST Cell ofllT, Delhi
regarding any caste-based discrimination. Moreover, in order to mitigate the
possibility of bigotry and discrimination amongst the students, it is the
policy of the institution that no person, except the Dean of Academics, is
aware about the category to which any student belongs and all students are treated
equally in the campus by all the staff members. It is further submitted that
the students are not required to disclose their castes in any other forms
filled by them during their time at IIT Delhi.
42.
That in order to bring forth the actual facts of the death of the deceased
students, a detailed enquiry was conducted, wherein all relevant materials were
collected and subjected to rigorous scrutiny. In the absence of any specific
allegation or even an iota of evidence in the enquiry suggesting any caste-based
discrimination in the present case or that the deceased committed suicide for
any reason other than weary academic load, it is humbly submitted that there
are no grounds for either registration of FIR or directing CBI to investigate
the matter in the present case and the same deserves to be dismissed.
43. It
is submitted that IIT Delhi is fully committed to the physical and mental
well-being of all the students, including those belonging to marginalized
groups. It is the top priority of the answering respondents to eradicate
caste-based discrimination and/or any form of harassment from the academic
pursuits of its students. IIT Delhi makes conscious efforts to encourage,
counsel and motivate the students.
44. IIT
Delhi has a zero-tolerance policy for any discrimination inflicted by any
person in the campus and stringent steps are taken to expunge such
possibilities. The institution ensures that any systemic deficiencies that can
be identified are immediately addressed.
45. It
is submitted that in order to aid the scholastic journey of the students at IIT
Delhi, each undergraduate student in the Institution is allotted a faculty
advisor. This information is constantly reflected on the institute academics
portal, which is routinely accessed by each student for various purposes,
including fees payment and registration for courses. The advisors are also
informed of their advisees on their respective academics' portal. Advisees can
meet their advisor at any time to discuss their issues.
46.
Further, a Board of Student Welfare (BSW) has also been established at the
Institute which assists in ensuring student wellness and addressing mental
health issues. In addition to being led by an elected student General
Secretary, this board is also mentored by several faculty members, with the
Associate Dean Student Welfare (ADSW) serving as the President of the Board.
BSW reaches out to students and regularly encourages them to come forward with
any issue that they may face during their time at IIT Delhi.
47.
Additionally, the Institution operates a separate Counselling Unit to aid
mental tonicity of the students. Currently, there are three female and one male
counsellors in this Unit from diverse backgrounds. Two counsellors (one female
and one male) reside on campus and are available 24x7 on call. Four (04) more
permanent counsellor positions have also been advertised and the hiring process
is underway. Services of an online counselling portal (Your Dost) are also made
available to all students 24x7.
48. The
Institution also ensures that at least one contractual psychiatrist remains
physically available in the hospital at the campus from 0800- 2000 hrs. Mon-Fri
and on-call for emergencies on weekends. The process of hiring a permanent psychiatrist
for the hospital is also underway.
49. In
addition to the above steps, the following support systems are also operational
at the Institute level to promptly address the concerns of students and provide
efficacious remedy to their problems:
* ICC
(Internal Complaints Committee)
*
Grievance Redressal Committee
*
Student Grievance web portal
*IGES
(Initiative for Gender Equity and Sensitization)
*
Office of Diversity & inclusion headed by a Dean *SC/STCell
50. It
is submitted that IIT Delhi is also in the process of setting up a Central
Attendance monitoring system for all students, with special attention on the
underperforming students.
51. It
is submitted that IIT Delhi aims at providing a comfortable and a safe
environment for its students and emotions of their parents. In the case at hand
as well, the Answering Respondents have fully cooperated with the Police,
parents and have even conducted internal inquiry to verify the claims of the
Petitioners.
52.
However, in both the inquiries conducted by the Answering Respondents as well
as the Police, no cognizable offence has been made out. "
E. ANALYSIS
16. Having heard the learned
counsel appearing for the parties and having gone through the materials on
record, the only question that falls for our consideration is whether the High
Court committed any error in passing the impugned judgment and order.
17. It is not in dispute that the
Police for some reason or the other declined to register an F.I.R. on the
ground that no one could be said to have abetted the commission of suicide. All
that the Police c the course of the inquiry under Section 174 of the CrPC was
to record the statements of other students belonging to SC/ST cats studying in
IIT Delhi, who stated that there was no caste-t discrimination in the hostel.
18. The High Court while
rejecting the writ petition observed thus:
"14.
Perusal of the Status Report filed by the Ld. ASG for the State shows that a
thorough and detailed enquiry was conducted into both the cases and it was
found that no complaint was ever given by any of the deceased students to the
police, SC/ST Cell IIT Delhi or to any of their friends in Campus regarding any
caste based discrimination being faced by them. Moreover, statements of family
and friends of the deceased were recorded and several other students of IIT,
Delhi who belonged to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were also examined
and none of them reported any caste-based discrimination taking place in the
IIT Campus, Delhi. The allegations levelled by the petitioners, therefore,
could not be corroborated and nothing came on record to substantiate the same.
15.
Undoubtedly, the academic career of two brilliant and young students came to an
end under devastating circumstances and one cannot even fathom the challenges
and emotions which the parents of the deceased must be facing every day. This
Court can understand the sentiments of the parents of the deceased and deeply
discourages the growing trend of pressurising young minds to perform the best
in every aspect of life leading them to take unfortunate steps. It is high time
that the faculty as well as other staff members of Indian Institute of
Technology make conscious efforts and take endeavours to counsel, encourage,
motivate and invigorate the students. It is of utmost priority to make the
young minds understand that scoring good marks and performing your best is
important but it is not the most important thing in life and one can certainly
give his/her best without succumbing to the pressures or stress of performing
better. The most significant way of instilling this into young minds who face
challenges everyday in the professional and competitive environment of colleges
is by teaching them in the very same campus where they spend years of their
students life the values of prioritizing their health be it physical or mental
which will also give them the confidence to face every challenge in life.
16.
Taking into consideration the totality of facts and-circumstances of this case,
this Court is of the view that a mandamus cannot be issued in a routine manner
merely on the basis of sympathy or sentiments, accordingly, the present
petition along with pending applications, if any is dismissed being devoid of
any merits. "
(Emphasis
supplied)
19. This litigation is an
eye-opener not just for the police but also for the parents whose children are
studying in different educational institutions, more particularly those
students residing in a hostel far from their respective homes, and also the management
of the educational institutions across the country.
20. The pivotal question that
falls for our consideration is whether the Police was justified in closing the
matter upon conclusion of the inquiry under Section 174 of the CrPC? In other
words, whether recourse to inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrP
obviates the requirement of registration of F.I.R.? To put it in a still lucid
manner, whether an inquest report discovering the cause c death would be good
enough to close the matter without registratio of an F.LR.?
i. Scope of Section 174 of the
CrPC
21. Section 174 of the CrPC reads
as under:
"Section
174. Police to enquire and report on suicide, etc.
1) When
the officer in charge of a police station or some other police officer specially
empowered by the State Government in that behalf receives information that a
person has committed suicide, or has been killed by another or by an animal or
by machinery or by an accident, or has died under circumstances raising a
reasonable suspicion that some other person has committed an offence, he shall
immediately give intimation thereof to the nearest Executive Magistrate
empowered to hold inquests, and, unless otherwise directed by any rule
prescribed by the State Government, or by any general or special order of the
District or Sub-divisional Magistrate, shall proceed to the place where the
body of such deceased person is, and there, in the presence of two or more
respectable inhabitants of the neighbourhood, shall make an investigation, and draw
up a report of the apparent cause of death, describing such wounds, fractures,
bruises, and other marks of injury as may be found on the body, and stating in
what manner, or by what weapon or instrument (if any); such marks appear to
have been inflicted.
(2) The
report shall be signed by such police officer and other persons, or by so many
of them as concur therein, and shall be forthwith forwarded to the District
Magistrate or the Sub-divisional Magistrate.
(3)When-
(i) the
case involves suicide by a woman within seven years of her marriage; or
(ii)
the case relates to the death of a woman within seven years of her marriage in
any circumstances raising a reasonable suspicion that some other person
committed an offence in relation to such woman; or
(iii)
the case relates to the death of a woman within seven years of her marriage and
any relative of the woman has made a request in this behalf; or
(iv)
there is any doubt regarding the cause of death; or
(v) the
police officer for any other reason considers it expedient so to do, he shall,
subject to such rules as the State Government may prescribe in this behalf,
forward the body, with a view to its being examined, to the nearest Civil
Surgeon, or other qualified medical man appointed in this behalf by the State
Government, if the state of the weather and the distance admit of its being so
forwarded without risk of such putrefaction on the road as would render such
examination useless.
(4) The
following Magistrates are empowered to hold inquests, namely, any District
Magistrate or Sub-divisional Magistrate and any other Executive Magistrate
specially empowered in this behalf by the State Government or the District
Magistrate. "
22. The proceedings under Section
174 of the CrPC should be kept more distinct from the proceedings taken on the
complaint. Investigation under Section 174 is limited in scope and is confined
to the ascertainment of the apparent cause of death and should not be equated
with investigation into cognizable offences under Sections 160 and 161 of the
CrPC respectively. The procedure under Section 174 of the CrPC is for the
purpose of discovering the cause of death and the evidence taken is very short.
Sub-section (4) of Section 174 empowers any District Magistrate, Sub-Divisional
Magistrate or any other Executive Magistrate specially empowered in this behalf
by the State Government or the District Magistrate to hold inquest. The inquest
held by the magistrate under Section 174 is distinct from an inquiry under
Section 202.
23. The inquest proceedings are
concerned with discovering whether in a given case the death was accidental,
suicidal, homicidal, or caused by an animal and in what manner or by what
weapon or instrument the injuries on the body appear to have been inflicted,
therefore, the evidence taken is very short. (See: Chaman Lal v. Emperor, AIR
1940 Lah 210, at 214)
24. The investigations conducted
under Sections 154 and 174 of the CrPC respectively are distinct in nature and
purpose. A study of Chapter XII of the CrPC reveals that these two provisions
cater to different procedural objectives. The former begins with information about
the commission of a cognizable offence referred to in Section 154(1),
culminating in registration of F.I.R. and ending with filing of a chargesheet/challan
before the competent court under Section 173 or a final report as the case may
be. This procedure to be undertaken for initiating an investigation into a
cognizable offence has been explained by this Court in Ashok Kumar Todi v.
Kishwar Jahan, (2011) 3 SCC 758, in the following words:
"48.
Under the scheme of the Code, investigation commences with lodgement of
information relating to the commission of an offence. If it is a cognizable
offence, the officer in charge of the police station, to whom the information
is supplied orally has a statutory duty to reduce it to writing and get the
signature of the informant. He shall enter the substance of the information,
whether given in writing or reduced to writing as aforesaid, in a book
prescribed by the State in that behalf. The officer-in-charge has no escape
from doing so if the offence mentioned therein is a cognizable offence and
whether or not such offence was committed within the limits of that police
station. [...]"
(Emphasis
supplied)
25. Further, the objective of
proceedings under Section 154(1) has been succinctly explained by this Court in
Manoj Kumar Sharma v. State of Chhattisgarh, (2016) 9 SCC 1, as under:
"19.
[...] Whereas the starting point of the powers of the police was changed from
the power of the officer in charge of a police station to investigate into a cognizable
offence without the order of a Magistrate, to the reduction of the first
information regarding commission of a cognizable offence, whether received
orally or in writing, into writing. As such, the objective of such placement of
provisions was clear which was to ensure that the recording of the first
information should be the starting point of any investigation by the police.
The purpose of registering FIR is to set the machinery of criminal
investigation into motion, which culminates with filing of the police report
and only after registration of FIR, beginning of investigation in a case,
collection of evidence during investigation and formation of the final opinion is
the sequence which results in filing of a report under Section 173 of the Code.
[...]"
(Emphasis
supplied)
26. In contrast, an investigation
under Section 174 of the CrPC focuses on ascertaining the apparent cause of
death in cases of unnatural or suspicious deaths. This position has been well
explained by this Court in Pedda Narayana v. State of Andhra Pradesh, (1975) 4
SCC 153. The proceeding under Section 174 is limited in scope and fundamentally
distinct from investigations aimed at prosecuting offences. Inquest proceedings
are conducted by the police or a Magistrate and conclude with the filing of an
inquest report before the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), District Judge, or
Magistrate as the case may be. The relevant observations are reproduced herein
below:
"11.
A perusal of this provision would clearly show that the object of the
proceedings under Section 174 is merely to ascertain whether a person has died
under suspicious circumstances or an unnatural death and if so what is the
apparent cause of the death. The question regarding the details as to how the
deceased was assaulted or who assaulted him or under what circumstances he was
assaulted appears to us to be foreign to the ambit and scope of the proceedings
under Section 174. In these circumstances, therefore, neither in practice nor
in law was it necessary for the police to have mentioned these details in the
inquest report. [...]"
(Emphasis
supplied)
27. The investigation after
registration of F.I.R. under Section 154 of the CrPC is an investigation into
an offence. In contrast, the investigation under Section 174 of the CrPC is an
investigation or an "inquiry" into the apparent cause of death.
28. The marginal note attached to
Section 174 of the CrPC reads "Police to inquire and report on suicide,
etc." This is self-explanatory as to the scope of the provision. Sections
174 to 176 of the CrPC only contemplate inquiry into the cause of death.
Although the phrase 'investigation' is used in Section 174 of the CrPC, yet it
is only an investigation in the nature of an inquiry. Sometimes, during the
inquest, the police record the presence of witnesses who are also witnesses in
the case. These statements are not meant as substitutes for statements under
Section 161 of the CrPC. The inquest requirement under Section 174 does use the
word investigation but if one considers the entire phraseology of Section 174
of the CrPC, one comes to the conclusion that the word investigation in Section
174 is not an investigation to find out who are the offenders. It is only to
enable the police to come up with the "apparent cause of death". This
phrase in Section 174 should give us the clue as to the correct understanding
of the role of the police in inquest panchnama.
ii. F.I.R. under Section 154 of
the CrPC
29. Section 154 of the CrPC lays
down the procedure for the registration of a First Information Report in cases
of cognizable offenses. The relevant portion of the provision is reproduced
hereunder:
"154.
Information in cognizable cases.(1) Every information relating to the
commission of a cognizable offence, if given orally to an officer in charge of
a police station, shall be reduced to writing by him or under his direction,
and be read over to the informant; and every such information, whether given in
writing or reduced to writing as aforesaid, shall be signed by the person
giving it, and the substance thereof shall be entered in a book to be kept by
such officer in such form as the State Government may prescribe in this behalf
[...]"
30. The object and purpose of
filing an F.I.R. has been explained by this Court in Sheikh Hasib Alias Tabarak
v. State of Bihar, (1972) 4 SCC 773, observing that the main purpose of the
F.I.R. is to initiate the criminal justice process and to gather information
about the alleged crime, enabling them to take appropriate actions to identify
and apprehend the offender. The Court held:
"4...
The principal object of the first information report from the point of view of
the informant is to set the criminal law in motion and from the point of view
of the investigating authorities is to obtain information about the alleged
criminal activity so as to be able to take suitable steps for tracing and
bringing to book the guilty party. The first information report, we may point
out, does not constitute substantive evidence though its importance as
conveying the earliest information regarding the occurrence cannot be doubted.
It can, however, only be used as a previous statement for the purpose of either
corroborating its maker under Section 157 of the Indian Evidence Act or for
contradicting him under Section 145 of that Act. It cannot be used for the
purpose of corroborating or contradicting other witnesses."
(Emphasis
supplied)
31. In Thulia Kali v. State of
T.N., (1972) 3 SCC 393, this Court elucidated the impact of delay in
registration of F.I.R. The Court held as follows:
"12.
... First information report in a criminal case is an extremely vital and
valuable piece of evidence for the purpose of corroborating the oral evidence
adduced at the trial. The importance of the above report can hardly be
overestimated from the standpoint of the accused. The object of insisting upon
prompt lodging of the report to the police in respect of commission of an
offence is to obtain early information regarding the circumstances in which the
crime was committed, the names of the actual culprits and the part played by
them as well as the names of eyewitnesses present at the scene of occurrence.
Delay in lodging the first information report quite often results in
embellishment which is a creature of afterthought. On account of delay, the
report not only gets bereft of the advantage of spontaneity, danger creeps in
of the introduction of coloured version, exaggerated account or concocted"
(Emphasis
supplied)
32. The point of law on mandatory
registration, as interpreted from Section 154 of the CrPC, has been elaborated
by this Court in State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal, 1992 Supp (1) SCC 335. Upon
thorough examination of the mandatory implications of Section 154 of the CrPC,
this Court arrived at the following finding in paragraphs 31 and 32 of the judgment:
"31.
At the stage of registration of a crime or a case on the basis of the
information disclosing a cognizable offence in compliance with the mandate of
Section 154(1) of the Code, the police officer concerned cannot embark upon an
enquiry as to whether the information, laid by the informant is reliable and
genuine or otherwise and refuse to register a case on the ground that the
information is not reliable or credible. On the other hand, the officer in
charge of a police station is statutorily obliged to register a case and then
to proceed with the investigation if he has reason to suspect the commission of
an offence which he is empowered under Section 156 of the Code to investigate,
subject to the proviso to Section 157. (As we have proposed to make a detailed
discussion about the power of a police officer in the field of investigation of
a cognizable offence within the ambit of Sections 156 and 157 of the Code in
the ensuing part of this judgment, we do not propose to deal with those
sections in extenso in the present context.) In case, an officer in charge of a
police station refuses to exercise the jurisdiction vested in him and to
register a case on the information of a cognizable offence reported and thereby
violates the statutory duty cast upon him, the person aggrieved by such refusal
can send the substance of the information in writing and by post to the
Superintendent of Police concerned who if satisfied that the information
forwarded to him discloses a cognizable offence, should either investigate the
case himself or direct an investigation to be made by any police officer
subordinate to him in the manner provided by sub-section (3) of Section 154 of
the Code.
32. Be
it noted that in Section 154(1) of the Code, the legislature in its collective
wisdom has carefully and cautiously used the expression 'information' without
qualifying the same as in Section 41(1) (a) or (g) of the Code wherein the
expressions, 'reasonable complaint' and 'credible information' are used.
Evidently, the non qualification of the word 'information' in Section 154(1)
unlike in Section 41 (1)(a) and (g) of the Code may be for the reason that the
police officer should not refuse to record an information relating to the
commission of a cognizable offence and to register a case thereon on the ground
that he is not satisfied with the reasonableness or credibility of the
information. In other words, 'reasonableness' or 'credibility' of the said
information is not a condition precedent for registration of a case. A comparison
of the present Section 154 with those of the earlier Codes will indicate that
the legislature had purposely thought it fit to employ only the word 'information'
without qualifying the said word. Section 139 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
of 1861 (Act 25 of 1861) passed by the Legislative Council of India read that
'every complaint or information' preferred to an officer in charge of a police
station should be reduced into writing which provision was subsequently
modified by Section 112 of the Code of 1872 (Act 10 of 1872) which thereafter
read that 'every complaint' preferred to an officer in charge of a police
station shall be reduced in writing. The word 'complaint' which occurred in
previous two Codes of 1861 and 1872 was deleted and in that place the word
'information' was used in the Codes of 1882 and 1898 which word is now used in
Sections 154, 155, 157 and 190(c) of the present Code of 1973 (Act 2 of 1974).
An overall reading of all the Codes makes it clear that the condition which is
sine qua non for recording a first information report is that there must be an
information and that information must disclose a cognizable offence.
33. It
is, therefore, manifestly clear that if any information disclosing a cognizable
offence is laid before an officer in charge of a police station satisfying the
requirements of Section 154(1) of the Code, the said police officer has no
other option except to enter the substance thereof in the prescribed form, that
is to say, to register a case on the basis of such information. "
(Emphasis
supplied)
33. In Lalita Kumari v.
Government of U.P., (2014) 2 SCC 1, a five-Judge Bench of this Court affirmed
the requirement for the mandatory registration of an F.I.R. under Section 154
of the CrPC. The Court ruled that, once the information provided discloses the
commission of a cognizable offence, it is imperative for the police to register
the F.I.R. without conducting any preliminary inquiry. This judgment reinforces
the principle that the registration of an F.I.R. is a duty that must be carried
out promptly upon the receipt of credible information regarding a cognizable
crime. The relevant paragraphs are reproduced herein below:
"83.
In terms of the language used in Section 154 of the Code, the police is
duty-bound to proceed to conduct investigation into a cognizable offence even
without receiving information (i.e. FIR) about commission of such an offence,
if the officer in charge of the police station otherwise suspects the
commission of such an offence. The legislative intent is therefore quite clear
i.e. to ensure that every cognizable offence is promptly investigated in
accordance with law. This being the legal position, there is no reason that
there should be any discretion or option left with the police to register or
not to register an FIR when information is given about the commission of a
cognizable offence. Every cognizable offence must be investigated promptly in
accordance with law and all information provided under Section 154 of the Code
about the commission of a cognizable offence must be registered as an FIR so as
to initiate an offence. The requirement of Section 154 of the Code is only that
the report must disclose the commission of a cognizable offence and that is
sufficient to set the investigating machinery into action. "
(Emphasis
supplied)
34. The foregoing discussion
leads us to the inevitable conclusion that when an informant approaches the
police with information regarding the commission of a cognizable offence, the
police owes a duty to promptly register an F.I.R. and initiate investigation in
accordance with Section 154 of the CrPC. The police authorities are not vested with
any discretion to conduct a preliminary inquiry to assess the credibility of
the information before registering the F.I.R. Any such practice would be
contrary to the established principles of criminal law.
35. Over a period of time, this
Court through its legion of decisions, has emphasized the necessity of ensuring
the prompt registration of F.I.R. to uphold the rule of law and prevent any
undue delay in the commencement of criminal investigation. Timely registration
of an F.I.R. not only ensures that crucial evidence is preserved but also serves
to protect the rights of victims by setting the criminal justice process in
motion without unnecessary procedural impediments.
36. In the present case, the
appellants had approached the territorial police station on 21.07.2023 and
09.09.2023 respectively for registration of an F.I.R., alleging foul play and
commission of offence under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The appellant nos. 1 and 2 respectively,
further, on 11.09.2023, addressed a detailed letter to the Deputy Commissioner
of Police, South-West, New Delhi for registration of F.I.R. However, no heed
was paid to the fervent appeal made by the appellants herein.
37. The husband of appellant no.
3 (father of Ayush Ashna) in his complaint, dated 21.07.2023 addressed to the
D.C.P., Vasant Vihar, New Delhi, had informed the Police that his son, Ayush
Ashna, was facing caste-based harassment from his hostel inmates as well as the
faculty members. He further informed the Police that his son had to change his
hostel owing to his caste category being revealed in the branch change list.
He, therefore, demanded an investigation into his son's untimely and unnatural
death.
38. Appellant nos. 1 and 2
respectively in their complaint dated 09.09.2023, stated that the death of Anil
Kumar was not due to suicide, but was a result of murder based on caste hatred.
They also informed the Police that Anil Kumar was facing caste-based
discrimination including the use of derogatory caste-based words by the members
of the faculty.
39. There is no doubt that the
offence alleged by the appellants in their respective complaints disclosed
commission of cognizable offences.
40. It is altogether a different
thing to say that there is no element of truth in what has been alleged by the
appellants in their respective complaints. It could just be a figment of their
imagination. It could also be just a reflection of their anger towards the
management as two young boys lost their lives. Even if the Police was of the
view that there was no element of truth in what had been alleged by the
appellants, it could have said so only after registering an F.I.R. and
conducting an investigation pursuant thereto. We say so because this is the
law. The Police could not have taken a shortcut just because something happened
in the hostel of an eminent educational institution like IIT Delhi. It seems
that the Police very quickly jumped to the conclusion that the two boys were in
some sort of depression as they were not doing well in their studies. Such
conclusion of the Police may as well be correct. However, again, at the cost of
repetition, we say that such a conclusion could have been arrived at only after
following the due process of law, i.e., registration of an F.I.R. and
investigation. Nobody would have stopped the Police from filing an appropriate
closure report saying that no case is made out. However, to close the entire
matter after undertaking an investigation under Section 174 of the CrPC is
something which we do not approve of.
41. It is legitimate to argue
that the commission of suicide is not a cognizable offence. A person who
commits suicide goes beyond the cognizance of police. What is cognizable in
cases of suicide is the abetment to commit suicide. Therefore, the complaint
made by the complainant must disclose abetment of commission of suicide by the person
named therein before an F.I.R. can be registered.
42. Further, the offence alleged
to have been committed under Section 3(1)(q) of the Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act, 1989 (SC/ST (PoA) Act, 1989) is a cognizable offence under Section 18 of the
said Act. The relevant provision reads thus:
18-A.
No enquiry or approval required.
(1) For
the purposes of this Act,
i.
preliminary enquiry shall not be required for registration of a First
Information Report against any person; or
ii. the
investigating officer shall not require approval for the arrest, if necessary,
of any person, against whom an accusation of having committed an offence under
this Act has been made and no procedure other than that provided under this Act
or the Code shall apply."
43. The aforementioned provision,
in the most unambiguous language, lays down that no preliminary enquiry is
required for the registration of an F.I.R. This leaves no room for the
authorities to delve into an investigation so as to determine the reasons
leading to the commission of suicide by the students when categorical
statements regarding caste-based harassment and discrimination were made in the
complaint. The SC/ST (PoA) Act, 1989 was enacted with the intent to enlarge the
scope of criminal liability by including several acts or omissions of
atrocities that were not covered by the I.P.C. or the Protection of Civil Liberties
Act, 1955 as summed up by this Court in National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights
v. Union of India, (2017) 2 SCC 432.
44. We also take notice of the
following:
'Wo.
15011/91/2013-SC/ST- W
Government
of India/Bharat Sarkar
Ministry
of Home Affairs
jp ^^
^^ ^^ ^^
NDCC -
II Building,
Jai
Singh Road
New
Delhi
Dated
the 12th October, 2015
To
The
Chief Secretaries
All
State Governments/UT Administrations
Subject:
Advisory on no discrimination in compulsory registration of FIRs-
Regarding
Sir/Madam,
1.
Reference is invited to this Ministry's Advisories dated 10th May 2013 and 5th
February 2014 regarding compulsory registration of FIR u/s 154 Cr P.C. (copies
enclosed).
2. In
these advisories it was made clear that as per section 154(1) of the Cr. P.C. a
police officer is duty bound to register a case on the basis of such
information disclosing a cognizable offence and FIR has to be registered
irrespective of territorial jurisdiction.
3.
National Commission for Minorities in its Annual Report 2011-12 has recommended
prompt action in registration of FIRs, timely filing of charge sheet and speedy
trial to restore the faith of minorities. In this regard, it is pertinent to
note that registration of FIR is the first step in the whole process. Therefore
all States/UTs must ensure that utmost promptness in registering FIRs is
extended to all those who approach the police for registration of FIRs without
any discrimination of whatever kind. Once again it is requested to ensure that
FIRs get registered in strict compliance to above stated advisories.
4. It
is requested to kindly ensure that these instructions are circulated amongst
all concerned Departments/ Organizations and others under your jurisdiction for
strict compliance.
Yours
faithfully
Kumar
Alok
Joint
Secretary to the Govt, of India
Tel No.
23438100."
45. We also take notice of the
following advisory dated 5.02.2024 issue by the Ministry of Home Affairs:
"Mo.
15011/91/2013 - SC/ST-W Government of India Ministry of Home Affairs Centre State
Division
5th
Floor, NDCC-II Building Jai Singh Road, New Delhi Dated the 5th February, 2024
To
The
Additional Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary (Home Department)
Sub:-
Compulsory Registration of FIR u/s 154 Cr.P.C when the information makes out a
cognizable offence
Sir/Madam,
This is
in continuation to the earlier advisory of the Ministry of Home Affairs dated
10-05-2013 regarding the registration of FIR irrespective of territorial
jurisdiction and zero FIR.
We had
made it clear that as per section 154(1) of the Cr. P.C. a police officer is
duty bound to register a case on the basis of such information disclosing a
cognizable offence. We had also made it clear that when it becomes apparent
that even if the offence has been committed outside the jurisdiction of the
police station, zero FIR would still be registered and the FIR would be then
transferred to the appropriate police station as per Section 170 of the Cr.P.C.
2. A
Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in W.P, (Cri.) No. 68 of 2008 in Lalita
Kumar Vs Government of U.P. and others on 12-11-2013 had addressed the issue of
mandatory registration of FIRs and had held that registration of FIR either on
the basis of the information furnished by the informant when it makes out a
cognizable offence u/s 154(1) of the Cr.P.C. or otherwise u/s 157(1) of the Cr.
P.C. is obligatory. It also held that reliability, genuineness and credibility
of the information are not conditions precedent for registering a case u/s 154
of the Cr. P.C. Since the legislative intent is to ensure that every cognizable
offence is promptly investigated in accordance with law, hence there is no
discretion or option left with the police to register or not to register an FIR
once information of a cognizable offence has been provided. The court was quite
perturbed about the burking of crime registration and has concluded that
nonregistration of crime leads to dilution of rule of law and thus leads to
definite lawlessness in the society, which is detrimental to the society as a
whole. It has hence called for action against erring officers who do not
register an FIR if information received by him/her discloses the commission of
a cognizable offence. It may be mentioned that Section 166A of Cr.P.C.
prescribes a penalty of imprisonment up to two years and also a fine for
nonregistration of a FIR for an offence described u/s 166A. It may be also
mentioned that if after investigation the information given is found to be
false, there is always an option to prosecute the complainant for filing a
false FIR under Chapter XI of the I.P.C.
3. The
Supreme Court has provided for some exceptions to the mandatory registration of
FIR and for the conduct of preliminary inquiry which are as follows:
(a) If
the information received does not disclose the commission of cognizable offence
but indicates the necessity for an inquiry, a preliminary inquiry may be
conducted only to ascertain whether a cognizable offence is disclosed or not.
If the inquiry discloses the commission of a cognizable offence, the FIR must
be registered. In cases where preliminary inquiry ends in closing the
complaint, a copy of the entry of such closure must be supplied to the first
informant within one week and it must also disclose the reasons in brief for
closing the complaint and not proceeding further.
(b)
The other categories of cases in which preliminary inquiry may be made are:
(i)
Matrimonial disputes/family disputes (ii) Commercial offences (iii) Medical
negligence cases (iv) Corruption cases
(v)
Cases where there is an abnormal delay in initiating criminal prosecution.
Example:
over 3 months delay in reporting the matter without satisfactorily explaining
the reasons for delay
(vi)
The Supreme Court has also insisted that all preliminary inquiries should be
completed within 7 days and any delay with the causes should be reflected in
the General Diary/Station House Diary/Daily Diary.
4. The
Supreme Court has, inter-alia, deprecated the practice of first recording the
information in the General Diary and then conducting a preliminary inquiry and
thereafter registering the FIR. It has clarified that registration of the FIR
is to be done in the FIR Register/Book (in the standard format prescribed) and
in addition, the gist or substance of the FIR is to be recorded in the General
Diary as mandated in the Police Act or Police Regulations.
5. In
addition, to ensure accountability in the functioning of police, the Supreme
Court emphasized that all actions of the police should be reduced to writing
and documented through entries made in the General Diary of the Police Station.
6. Home
Departments of the States/UTs may direct the DGPs/IGPs to issue necessary
instructions in the light of the above advisory so that ail police officers are
made aware of them and the contents are also incorporated in the training
curriculum of the police personnel.
7. The
receipt of the same may kindly be acknowledged."
(S.
Suresh Kumar)
Joint
Secretary (CS) "
46. The aforesaid advisory makes
the following very clear:
i.
Registration of an F.I.R. is mandatory under Section 154 of the Code, if the
information discloses commission of a cognizable offence and no preliminary
inquiry is permissible in such a situation.
ii. If
the information received does not disclose a cognizable offence but indicates
the necessity for an inquiry, a preliminary inquiry may be conducted only to
ascertain whether a cognizable offence is disclosed or not.
iii. If
the inquiry discloses the commission of a cognizable offence, the F.I.R. must
be registered. In cases where preliminary inquiry ends in closing the
complaint, a copy of the entry of such closure must be supplied to the first
informant forthwith and not later than one week. It must disclose reasons in
brief for closing the complaint and not proceeding further.
iv. The
police officer cannot avoid his duty of registering the offence if a cognizable
offence is disclosed. Action must be taken against erring officers who do not
register an F.I.R. if information received by them discloses a cognizable
offence.
v. The
scope of preliminary inquiry is not to verify the veracity or otherwise of the
information received but only to ascertain whether the information reveals any
cognizable offence.
vi. As
to what type and in which cases preliminary inquiry is to be conducted will
depend on the facts and circumstances of each case. The category of cases in
which preliminary inquiry may be made are as under:
a.
Matrimonial disputes/ family disputes
b.
Commercial offences
c.
Medical negligence cases
d.
Corruption cases
e.
Cases where there is an abnormal delay in initiating criminal prosecution, for
example, over three months delay in reporting the matter without satisfactorily
explaining the reasons for delay. The aforesaid are only illustrations and not
exhaustive of all conditions which may warrant preliminary inquiry.
vii.
While ensuring and protecting the rights of the accused and the complainant, a
preliminary inquiry should be made time bound and in any case it should not
exceed 7 days. The fact of such delay and the causes of it must be reflected in
the General Diary entry.
viii.
Since the General Diary/Station Diary/Daily Diary is the record of all
information received in a police station, we direct that all information
relating to cognizable offences, whether resulting in registration of an F.I.R.
or leading to an inquiry, must be mandatorily and meticulously reflected in the
said Diary and the decision to conduct a preliminary inquiry must also be
reflected, as mentioned above.
F. CONCLUSION
47. We are of the view that
responsibility of maintaining the safety and well-being of students rests
heavily on the administration of every educational institution. Therefore, in
the event of any unfortunate incident, such as a suicide occurring on campus,
it becomes their unequivocal duty to promptly lodge an F.I.R. with the
appropriate authorities. Such action is not only a legal obligation but also a
moral imperative to ensure transparency, accountability, and the pursuit of
justice. Simultaneously, it is incumbent upon the police authorities to act
with diligence and responsibility by registering the FIR without refusal or
delay. This ensures that due process of law is upheld, and a thorough
investigation can be conducted to uncover the truth and address any underlying
causes. The harmonious discharge of these duties by both educational
institutions and law enforcement agencies is essential to prevent the
recurrence of such tragedies and to preserve trust in societal institutions. In
a given case, failure on part of the administration of any educational
institution may be viewed strictly.
48. 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. We need not say anything
further as investigation of any crime is within the domain of the police.
G. NATIONAL TASK FORCE TO ADDRESS
THE MENTAL HEALTH CONCERNS OF STUDENTS AND PREVENT THE COMMISSION OF SUICIDES
IN HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
49. However, we do not intend to
close the matter just with a direction to register the F.I.R. We deem it
absolutely necessary to discuss the disturbing pattern of student suicides
being reported from various educational institutes across the country.
50. On 19th March, 2025, a
third-year law student, aged 21 years, at the Gujarat National Law University
(GNLU) was found dead in his dorm room. The deceased student was a native of Patiala
in Punjab. He had apparently hanged himself from the latch and was found on the
floor. [Gujarat National Law University
student ends life on campus, THE TIMES OF INDIA, March 19, 2025.]
51. On 25th February, 2025, a
third-year student at the Indian Institute of Technology, Patna took his life
by allegedly jumping from the seventh floor of his hostel premises situated
within the campus itself allegedly owing to excessive academic pressure. [IIT Patna student dies by 'suicide' on
campus, THE INDIAN EXPRESS, February 27, 2025.]
52. On 15th February, 2025, a
third-year student pursuing a Bachelors in Technology from Kalinga Institute of
Industrial Technology (KIIT) campus in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, was found hanging
from the ceiling fan in her hostel room on account of alleged sexual harassment
and blackmailing by a fellow student.
[Why suicide of Nepali student at Odisha's KIIT campus forced Nepal PM to
intervene, FlRST POST, February 18, 2025.]
53. On 18 February, 2024, a
second-year student at the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Wayanad,
Kerala, was found hanging in the bathroom of his hostel, after allegedly being
tortured by his seniors and batchmates days before his death. [Wayanad student suicide: Six arrested for
college student's suicide, THE NEW INDIAN Express, February 29, 2024.]
54. What disturbs us even more is
that the abovementioned incidents are not isolated one-off occurrences but are
only a few out of the many which have taken place over a period of time owing
to a multitude of reasons like ragging, academic pressure, caste-based
discrimination, sexual harassment, etc. As per the data provided by the Union
Minister of State for Education to the Rajya Sabha in 2023, 98 students died by
suicide in higher educational institutes since 2018, out of which 39 were from
IITs, 25 from NITs, 25 from central universities, four from IIMs, three from
IISERs and two from IIITs. [98 students
died by suicide in higher educational institutes since 2018: Centre, Hindustan
Times, July 27, 2023.]
55. Each suicide is a personal
tragedy that prematurely takes the life of an individual and has a continuing
ripple effect, affecting the lives of families, friends and communities.
According to the 210th Report of the Law Commission of India, suicide has been
identified as one of the most significant factors contributing to the premature
and unnatural cessation of human life.
[Law Commission of India, Report No. 210 on the Humanisation and
Decriminalisation of Attempt to Suicide, Para 1.5 (October 2008).] The
statistics contained in the Report of the National Crime Records Bureau (for
short, "the NCRB") for the year 2021 highlight the grim reality of
over 13,000 students having lost their lives by committing suicide in the
country which is almost twice the already disturbing number a decade ago. The
number of student suicides has now surpassed suicides committed by farmers due
to agrarian distress, with a four percent rise in 2024 alone. [More Students Dying by Suicide Than
Farmers Reveals Another Deadly Crisis, THE Quint, October 23, 2024.]
According to the NCRB Report titled "Accidental Deaths and Suicides in
India, 2022" student suicides accounted for 7.6% of the total number of
suicides committed in India in 2022 with 1.2% of total suicides attributable to
professional/career problems and 1.2% to failure in examination.
56. In the backdrop of the rising
incidence of student suicides on college campuses and in higher educational
institutions, including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National
Institutes of Technology (NITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), we
believe that it is high time we take cognizance of this serious issue and
formulate comprehensive and effective guidelines to address and mitigate the
underlying causes contributing to such distress among students.
57. We believe from our little
understanding that the suicide epidemic in educational institutions can be
attributed to a plethora of factors including but not limited to academic
pressure, caste-based discrimination, financial stress, and sexual harassment,
with eminent institutions like the IITs and NITs reporting high rates linked to
exam failures[Id.].
58. A number of news reports
point out that caste-based discrimination is rampant and pervasive, even in
prestigious educational institutions, aggravating the sense of alienation among
students from marginalised communities. Caste-based discrimination on college
campuses is in clear violation of Article 15 of the Constitution which inter
alia prohibits discrimination on the ground of caste. In response to a question
put up in the Rajya Sabha in 2021, the Ministry of Education submitted that 60%
of the students who dropped-out from seven reputed IITs belonged to the
reserved categories.
59. We are aware that a
coordinate Bench of this Court is in seisin of the issue pertaining to
caste-based discrimination in educational institutions in the case of Abeda
Salim Tadvi & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors., (W.P. (C) No. 1149/2019).
Pursuant to the directions of this Court in the said matter, the University
Grants Commission (for short, "the UGC") has published the draft
University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions)
Regulations, 2025. The avowed object of the said Regulations is to ensure a
safe, inclusive, and equitable learning environment for all students, faculty
members, and staff by preventing any form of discrimination based on religion,
race, caste, sex, or place of birth within Higher Educational Institutions.
60. The aforesaid draft
Regulations published by the UGC also assume importance as the phenomenon of
"othering" of students belonging to the marginalised communities,
whether based on caste, gender or ethnicity, is being reported with an
increasing frequency and it is only through sensitization of students and the
faculty members that it can be ensured that campuses become safe spaces which
are equal for students coming from the different walks of life.
61. While the steps taken by the
UGC pursuant to the directions of this Court in Abeda Salim Tadvi (supra) are
in the right direction inasmuch as they aim to prevent all forms of on-campus
discrimination, we intend to take a step further towards creating an
institutionalised mechanism for ensuring the mental well-being of students
studying in Higher Educational Institutions so as to mitigate the instances of
commission of suicides by students owing to discrimination, academic pressure,
harassment, or any other concern affecting the mental well-being of students.
62. Based on a survey conducted
by Seena Mary Thankachan, a researcher at the Pune International Centre, it was
reported that 70% of the faculty members across IITs felt ill-equipped to
address mental health issues, and 90% lacked proper training to support
students with such sensitive concerns.
[OPINION: The silent crisis in the IITs, THE WEEK, July 27, 2024.]
Implementing strict antidiscrimination policies, cultural sensitivity training,
and support groups for marginalised students is crucial to uproot institutional
and systemic discrimination against
disadvantaged groups which effectively undermines their full and equal social,
economic, political, and cultural participation in society. [Anjum Kadari v. Union of India, (2024) SCC Online SC 3129.]
63. The relentless pressure to
perform in a purely score-based education system, coupled with the extreme
competition for limited seats in premier educational institutions, places a
terrifying burden on the students' mental health. The inordinate burden on
students to work on multiple projects simultaneously exacerbates academic
pressure. Several students who come from competitive coaching centres bring
pre-existing mental health issues, which get further heightened when they enter
Higher Educational Institutions. Although it is difficult to eradicate this
distress yet it can be managed by introducing flexible curricula, continuous
assessment methods, structured support for managing backlogs and on campus
support for psychological issues faced by the students. [Supra 8.]
64. Another cause of student
suicides remains brutality in the form of ragging, which is often concealed by
colleges and universities to safeguard their reputation. This violates the
right to dignity and education of students. It has been clarified by this Court
in Farzana Batoolv. Union of India, (2021) SCC OnLine SC 3433 that "while
the right to pursue higher (professional) education has not been spelt out as a
fundamental right in Part III of the Constitution, it bears emphasis that
access to professional education is not a governmental largesse. Instead, the
State has an affirmative obligation to facilitate access to education, at all
levels. "
65. The R.K. Raghavan Committee was
appointed to curb the menace of ragging which detailed the causes and
actionable remedies in its 2007 Report. It was pointed out by the Committee
that most State laws only seek to prohibit, and not prevent, ragging, and
"while prevention must lead to prohibition, the reverse need not be
true." There also exist the UGC Regulations on Curbing the Menace of
Ragging in Higher Educational Institutions 2009, however, news reports have
pointed out that tangible actions have not been taken by the stakeholders other
than mere formalities such as mandating undertakings from students and parents
against indulging in ragging, and putting up no-ragging notices on university
premises. [Unending ordeal: On continuing
acts of ragging, THE HINDU, November 27, 2023.] While the existing guidelines need to be enforced, there is also a
requirement of bringing in new measures for providing psychological support to
victims of ragging so as to stop them from taking extreme steps like commission
of suicide.
66. We are of the firm view that
universities must acknowledge their role not just as centres of learning but as
institutions responsible for the well-being and holistic development of their
students. The failure to do so would mean failing the very purpose of education
- to uplift, empower, and transform lives. Universities assume the role of a
parent when a student leaves his home and comes to study on the campus of the
university. As per the principle of 'loco parentis' when a student at the
adolescent age or childhood is sent to school by the parents, it is also the
duty of the school authorities to play the role of parents in safeguarding the
intertest and welfare of the students. A person in loco parentis means a person
taking upon himself the duty of a father of a child to make a provision for
that child. The duty of the college authorities is not just to ensure academic
excellence of the students but also to ensure their mental well-being, and not
just exercise authority and control over students but also to provide support
in times of distress.
67. The nation has already
suffered the tragic loss of numerous students - young individuals with immense
potential who could have gone on to become successful professionals. However,
due to the absence of adequate institutional support, they were driven to take
the extreme step of ending their own lives. These distressing incidents not
only highlight systemic failures but also expose a severe lack of institutional
empathy and accountability on the part of educational institutions. When
academic environments fail to address discrimination, harassment, and mental
health concerns effectively, they contribute to a culture of neglect that can
have devastating consequences.
68. As a society, and as
stakeholders in shaping the future of our youth, we must take collective
responsibility to ensure that no more lives are lost due to apathy or
indifference. It is imperative for institutions to have a culture of
sensitivity and proactive intervention so that every student feels safe,
supported, and empowered to pursue their aspirations without fear or
discrimination.
69. The recurring instances of
student suicides in Higher Educational Institutions, including private
educational institutions, serve as a grim reminder of the inadequacy and ineffectiveness
of the existing legal and institutional framework in addressing mental health
concerns of students on campuses and to prevent the students from taking the
extreme step of committing suicides. These tragedies underscore the urgent need
for a more robust, comprehensive, and responsive mechanism to address the
various factors which compel certain students to resort to taking their own
lives. In light of the concerns expressed above, a National Task Force to
address the mental health concerns of students and prevent the commission of
suicides in Higher Educational Institutions is being constituted and shall
comprise of the following members:
i.
Justice S. Ravindra Bhat, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India, as the
Chairperson;
ii. Dr.
Alok Sarin, Consultant Psychiatrist, Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science &
Research, New Delhi;
iii.
Prof. Mary E. John (retired), Former Director, Centre for Women's Development
Studies, New Delhi;
iv. Mr.
Arman Ali, Executive Director, National Centre for Promotion of Employment for
Disabled People;
v.
Prof. Rajendar Kachroo, Founder, Aman Satya Kachroo Trust;
vi. Dr.
Aqsa Shaikh, Professor of the Department of Community Medicine in Hamdard
Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, New Delhi;
vii.
Dr. Seema Mehrotra, Professor of Clinical Psychology, NIMHANS;
viii.
Prof. Virginius Xaxa, Visiting Professor at the Institute for Human Development
(IHD), New Delhi;
ix. Dr.
Nidhi S. Sabharwal, Associate Professor, Centre for Policy Research in Higher
Education, National University of Educational Planning and Administration, New
Delhi;
x. Ms.
Aparna Bhat, Senior Advocate (as amicus curiae).
70. The following shall be the
ex-officio members of this Task Force:
i.
Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of
India;
ii.
Secretary, Department of Social Justice & Empowerment, Ministry of Social
Justice & Empowerment, Government of India;
iii.
Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India;
iv.
Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government
of India.
71. We direct the Chief
Secretaries of all the States/Union Territories to nominate a high ranking
officer, not below the rank of Joint Secretary in the Department of Higher
Education of the respective State/Union Territory, to act as the nodal officer
on behalf of the respective State/Union Territory. We further direct all the
concerned departments/authorities of the respective State/Union Territory to
cooperate with the nodal officer concerned and furnish necessary information,
data and assistance as may be sought by such nodal officer.
72. The Joint Secretary,
Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India
shall act as the convener of the Task Force.
73. 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.
74. The remit of this Task Force
is to prepare a comprehensive report that includes:
i.
Identification of the predominant causes which lead to commission of suicides
by students: An examination of the various causes which lead to student
suicides in Higher Educational Institutions, including but not limited to
ragging, caste-based discrimination, gender-based discrimination, sexual
harassment, academic pressure, financial burden, mental health related stigma,
discrimination based on ethnicity, tribal identity, disability, sexual
orientation, political views, religious belief or any other grounds.
ii.
Analysis of Existing Regulations: A thorough assessment of the effectiveness of
current laws, policies, and institutional frameworks applicable to Higher
Educational Institutions concerning ragging, caste-based and gender-based
discrimination, sexual harassment, mental health support, support for students
facing academic challenges, financial support to students in need of funds, etc.
This analysis will evaluate whether these frameworks adequately address the
challenges faced by students.
iii.
Recommendations for Strengthening Protections:
Proposing
necessary reforms to the existing legal and institutional frameworks to ensure
stronger enforcement, accountability, and preventive measures. The Task Force
shall also put forth recommendations to address existing gaps, create a more
inclusive and supportive academic environment, and ensure equal opportunities
for members of marginalized communities.
75. In the process of preparing
its report, the Task Force shall have the authority to conduct surprise
inspections of any Higher Educational Institution. Additionally, the Task Force
shall be at liberty to make further recommendations beyond the specified
mandate, wherever necessary, to ensure a holistic and effective approach
towards addressing mental-health concerns of students and eliminating the
incidence of suicides in Higher Educational Institutions. The Task Force is
requested to take into account the views and concerns of all stakeholders,
including those of student unions, whether elected or nominated and other
student representative bodies, wherever they exist. The Task Force is also
requested to seek representation from and consult the governments of all the
States and Union Territories. The Task Force may also consider obtaining the
views of the different stakeholders by way of circulating a questionnaire and
seeking written responses thereupon.
76. It is clarified that the term
"Higher Educational Institution" is used broadly to cover all higher
educational institutions, including government and private universities, deemed
to be universities, government and private colleges, etc.
77. The Secretary, Department of
Higher Education, Ministry of Education; the Secretary, Department of Social
Justice & Empowerment, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment; the
Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development; and the Secretary, Department
of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India, shall
collaborate with the Task Force and extend full cooperation by providing all
necessary information, documents, and resources required by the Task Force to
effectively carry out its mandate.
78. The Secretary, Department of
Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India shall serve as the
Member-Secretary of the Task Force. The Ministry of Education, Government of
India shall be responsible for providing all necessary logistical support to
facilitate the functioning of the Task Force. This shall include making
arrangements for travel, accommodation, and secretarial assistance, as well as
covering all related expenses of the Task Force members. The Ministry shall provide
a sufficiently large office space to the Task Force for holding its meetings
and also to enable the officials to carry on its day-to-day activities.
Additionally, the Ministry shall provide an appropriate honorarium to the
members in recognition of their contributions.
79. We also direct that the
Central Government, the Governments of all the States/Union Territories and
agencies thereof, and Universities shall extend their full and active
cooperation to the Task Force and provide the requisite data, information and
assistance, as may be necessary. In the case of delay, reluctance or neglect on
part of the aforesaid bodies, the Task Force will be at liberty to approach
this Court through the amicus curiae seeking remedial actions.
80. The Chairperson of the Task
Force shall be at liberty to engage the services of any person for the purpose
of providing secretarial assistance in coordinating with the members of the
Task Force, preparation of the interim and final report and for the smooth and
effective discharge of any other responsibilities as may arise during the
course of carrying out the mandate of the Task Force. This shall include the
engagement of the services of Data Analysts and Research Assistants as may be
necessary for the effective discharge of the mandate of the Task Force.
81. The Chairperson of the Task
Force shall also be at liberty to constitute, after due consultation with the
members of the Task Force, committees and sub-committees as may be required for
the purpose of carrying out specific functions.
82. We direct the Union of India
to deposit an amount of Rupees Twenty Lacs (Rs 20,00,000/-) with the Registry
within two weeks from the date of this order as an outlay for the initial
operations of the Task Force. The amicus curiae shall be at liberty to move an
appropriate application seeking orders for disbursement of any additional
funds, whenever necessary. We clarify that this amount is in addition to the financial
and administrative responsibility of the Ministry of Education as described
aforesaid.
83. The Task Force is requested
to present an interim report within four months from the date of this order.
The final report shall be submitted preferably within eight months from the
date of this order.
84. We treat this matter as part
heard. The registry shall notify this matter after four months alongwith the
interim report of the Task Force before this very Bench (J.B. Pardiwala and R.
Mahadevan, JJ.) after obtaining appropriate orders from Honourable the Chief
Justice of India.
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