The Supreme Court on Monday took note of the recurring cases of student suicides in higher educational institutions and formed a National Task Force (NTF) to address the mental health concerns of students and prevent such incidents.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan directed Delhi Police to register an FIR on the complaints of the family members of two students who died by suicide while studying at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, in 2023.

Noting a “disturbing pattern” of student suicides were being reported from various educational institutes, the apex court said these tragedies underscored the urgent need for a more robust, comprehensive and responsive mechanism to address various factors which compel students to resort to taking their own lives.

“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,” the order said.

While the order said former apex court judge Justice S Ravindra Bhat would be the chairperson of the NTF, secretaries of a state’s higher education departments, social justice and empowerment and legal affairs aside from the ministry of women and child development would be its ex-officio members.

The bench said the NTF would prepare a comprehensive report that includes, identification of the predominant causes that lead to suicides by students, analysis of existing regulations and recommendations for strengthening protections.

In the process of preparing its report, the court said, the NTF would 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 order added.

While the NTF would furnish an interim report within four months, a final report would preferably be filed within eight months, it said.

The apex court’s verdict came on an appeal filed by the parents of two deceased students against a January 2024 order of the Delhi High Court which refused to direct the police to register an FIR in connection with the suicide by the two students.

While Ayush Ashna was found dead on July 8, 2023 in his hostel room, Anil Kumar was found dead on September 1, 2023 in his hostel room at IIT Delhi.

It was alleged that both the students, who belonged to the scheduled castes, were murdered and they had earlier confided in their parents being subjected to caste discrimination.

The bench noted it was not in dispute that the police for some reason or the other declined to register an FIR on the complaints on the ground that no one could be said to have abetted the commission of suicide.

“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,” it said.

The bench said such incidents were not isolated, one-off occurrences but only a few of the several instances that have taken place over a period of time owing to reasons such as ragging, academic pressure, caste-based discrimination, sexual harassment, etc.

The bench said 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.

Dealing with the appeal, the bench referred to the scope of Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which deals with police to enquire and report on suicide, etc.

It said an investigation under Section 174 of the CrPC focuses on ascertaining the apparent cause of death in cases of unnatural or suspicious deaths.

When an informant approaches the police with information regarding the commission of a cognisable offence, the court said, the police owes a duty to promptly register an FIR and initiate investigation in accordance with section 154 of the CrPC.

The bench said in the present case, the appellants had approached the territorial police station on July 21, 2023 and September 9, 2023 respectively for registration of an FIR, alleging foul play and commission of offence under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

“The police could not have taken a shortcut just because something happened in the hostel of an eminent educational institution like IIT Delhi,” it said.

The bench directed the DCP (South-West District) to register the FIR in line with two complaints lodged in writing by the family members of the students and depute any responsible officer, not below the rank of ACP to undertake the probe.

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