Student Suicides | Supreme Court Orders FIR in IIT Delhi Case, Forms National Task Force on Mental Health and Discrimination in Colleges
Safiya Malik
The Supreme Court of India has directed the Delhi Police to register a First Information Report (FIR) in connection with the deaths of two Scheduled Caste students at IIT Delhi, recording that the complaints submitted by their families “do prima facie disclose commission of cognizable offences.” The Bench comprising Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan, in an order dated 21 March 2025, held that the police were under a statutory obligation to register an FIR under Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC), upon receipt of information regarding a cognizable offence.
The court further directed that “the investigation shall be conducted by a police officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police,” and all allegations, including those relating to caste-based discrimination under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, must be investigated. Additionally, the court constituted a National Task Force to address the rising incidence of student suicides in higher educational institutions across the country.
The appeals were filed by the families of Ayush Ashna and Anil Kumar, both B.Tech students at IIT Delhi, who were found deceased in their respective hostel rooms on 8 July 2023 and 1 September 2023. Both students belonged to the Scheduled Caste community. The appellants contended that their wards were victims of caste-based discrimination, and their deaths resulted from systemic failures, which were sought to be masked as suicides due to academic stress.
Complaints were submitted to the police, seeking registration of FIRs for offences including abetment of suicide, criminal conspiracy, and violations under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. However, the Delhi Police did not register FIRs and conducted only preliminary inquiries under Section 174 CrPC, concluding the deaths to be suicides linked to academic pressure.
The petitioners moved the Delhi High Court, seeking directions for registration of FIRs and an impartial investigation. The High Court, by order dated 3 October 2023, dismissed the petitions, upholding the police’s action. Aggrieved by this, the families approached the Supreme Court.
The petitioners submitted that their sons had been subjected to caste-based discrimination by certain faculty members and were unfairly failed or marked absent in academic evaluations. They argued that the failure of the police to register FIRs violated their statutory rights under Sections 154 CrPC and 18A of the SC/ST Act. They also contested the veracity of the statements attributed to them during the Section 174 inquiries, asserting that such statements were obtained under duress.
The respondents, including Delhi Police, the Union of India, and IIT Delhi, submitted that thorough inquiries had been conducted under Section 174 CrPC, including postmortem examinations and witness statements. They submitted that no formal complaints of discrimination were made by the deceased students during their lifetime. The respondents relied upon statements of fellow students and faculty, which allegedly suggested academic stress and poor performance as contributing factors.
The court recorded the central issue as “whether the complaints submitted by the appellants disclose cognizable offences requiring registration of FIR under Section 154 CrPC.” It stated, “it is not in dispute that the appellants are parents of two Scheduled Caste students who died by suicide inside the campus of IIT Delhi.”
Referring to established legal principles, the court observed that “in Lalita Kumari v. Government of Uttar Pradesh, it has been held that registration of FIR is mandatory under Section 154 CrPC if the information discloses the commission of a cognizable offence.” The court noted, “prima facie, the complaints submitted by the appellants allege commission of cognizable offences and, therefore, the same should have been registered as an FIR under Section 154 of the CrPC.”
The court recorded that inquiries under Section 174 CrPC were only preliminary steps and “cannot substitute the legal mandate under Section 154 CrPC.” It further stated, “the police cannot embark upon an inquiry to verify the veracity of the allegations before registering the FIR.”
Taking into account the larger context, the court recorded “we are not oblivious to the growing concern surrounding student suicides in higher educational institutions.” It noted the death of a second-year veterinary student in Wayanad, Kerala, in February 2024, allegedly after being tortured by seniors. It recorded, “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.”
Citing data from the Rajya Sabha, the court noted that “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.” It recorded that “the statistics contained in the Report of the National Crime Records Bureau for the year 2021 highlight the grim reality of over 13,000 students having lost their lives by committing suicide.”
The court further recorded, “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.”
Regarding caste-based discrimination, the court stated, “caste-based discrimination is rampant and pervasive, even in prestigious educational institutions, aggravating the sense of alienation among students from marginalised communities.”
Referring to the pending matter of Abeda Salim Tadvi v. Union of India, the court noted, “the University Grants Commission has published the draft UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2025,” which aim to prevent discrimination on various grounds.
The court then addressed mental health, recording that “70% of faculty members across IITs felt ill-equipped to address mental health issues, and 90% lacked proper training to support students with such sensitive concerns.”
On ragging, the court recorded, “another cause of student suicides remains brutality in the form of ragging, which is often concealed by colleges and universities to safeguard their reputation.”
The court stated 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.” Invoking the principle of loco parentis, it recorded, “the duty of the college authorities is not just to ensure academic excellence of the students but also to ensure their mental well-being.”
The court allowed the appeal, stating, “the Delhi Police is directed to register an FIR under Section 154 CrPC based on the complaints of the appellants.” It directed, “the investigation shall be conducted by an officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police.”
The court constituted a National Task Force to address student suicides, chaired by Justice S. Ravindra Bhat, Former Judge of the Supreme Court. The court directed, “a comprehensive report shall be prepared identifying the causes of student suicides, analyzing existing regulations, and recommending reforms.”
The court directed that “an interim report shall be submitted within four months and the final report within eight months.” It ordered, “the Union of India shall deposit Rupees Twenty Lacs with the Registry for the Task Force’s initial operations.”
Advocates Representing the Parties
For the Appellants: R. H. A. Sikander
For the Respondents: Mukesh Kumar Maroria, Mrinal Gopal Elker
Case Title: Amit Kumar and Others v. Union of India and Others
Neutral Citation: 2025 INSC 384
Case Number: Criminal Appeal No. 1425 of 2025 (@SLP (Crl) No. 13224 of 2024)
Bench: Justice J.B. Pardiwala, Justice R. Mahadevan
[Read/Download order]
