Delhi HC reprimands IP University for shoddy investigation of Sushant Rohilla’s suicide

The Delhi High Court today reprimanded the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprashtha University for its lackadaisical approach in investigating the suicide of one its students, Sushant Rohilla.

The varsity initially asked for an adjournment but the court, instead, directed the presence of the Registrar of the University for not being able to brief the counsel and ignoring the suggestions made by the Amicus Curiae, Dayan Krishnan.

The Division Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Najmi Waziri observed,

“We need assistance from him directly. Either you call him voluntarily or we will pass an order. This is a very serious matter. Does he have the weight of the world on his shoulders that he cannot come or is he chilling somewhere?”

The matter resumed after a break with the Registrar being present in the courtroom.

Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayyar, appearing for the University contended that they were only implementing the rules and regulations and if such rules (regarding attendance and grades) are not followed then it would open a floodgate of non-serious students.

The Court observed,

“The universities must think of the students. The relationship of the teachers and students has reduced to only a perfunctory exercise relating to what transpires in the classroom. There is no real connection left. Institutions have become like machines. Are we in a race to produce clones? Nowadays, individuality is frowned upon.”

Regarding the academic record of Rohilla, the court said to Nayyar,

“He was not as bad a student as you make him out to be. He was good in extra-curricular activities as well. Who is to say that he could not have become as successful as you one day?”

The Amicus Curiae submitted that the investigating officer in his report stated that no one had prior information regarding the state of mind of the deceased. However, Rohilla, in a chat with a girl who was his senior in college, had shared that he was in distress. The girl also made statements which have not been taken into consideration by the investigating officer.

The court directed the University to file a status report regarding the investigation within two weeks. The court also asked the Amicus Curiae to submit the anomalies in the investigation, things that could have been done but were not done and ways of setting up a mechanism to prevent such incidents in the future.