NEW DELHI: Just days after issuing 15-point guidelines to prevent students suicides in educational institutions across the country, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the premier Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur why students were ending their lives by suicide over there.
Expressed serious concern over such death, a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan asked, "What is wrong with IIT Kharagpur? Why are students committing suicide?"
Hearing a suo motu case concerning student suicides at IIT Kharagpur and Sharda University, the court asked the authorities over there whether they have given a thought to the issue.
The court had on July 21, 2025 taken suo motu cognisance of the matter.
Responding to the court, a counsel, appearing for the IIT Kharagpur, said, a 10-member committee has been constituted to deal with the issue. He further elaborated that there was a counselling centre. They were identifying students facing mental health problems.
"They have given a phone number which can be called anytime," he said.
The court had earlier appointed senior advocate Aparna Bhatt as amicus curiae and asked her to provide detailed information in the matter.
During the hearing, the lawyer for IIT Kharagpur and Sharda University informed the Supreme Court that FIRs have been lodged in connection with both the incidents.
Having been apprised of these facts, the court said, it will not make any further observations and clarified that the probe can continue in the case.
"We are informed that so far as the incident which occurred at Sharda University the FIR came to be lodged by the father of the deceased and the investigation is in progress let it proceed in accordance with law," the bench said.
In the incident at IIT Kharagpur, the bench said, "We were informed that within 30 minutes, the management learned of the suicide they lodged a complaint in the police station. The investigation in this regard is also in progress. Let the investigation continue in the right direction."
The court scheduled the matter for hearing after four weeks.
When a lawyer told the judges that a student died by suicide at IIT Delhi on June 4 but no FIR has not been registered, the court said, the amicus will take up the issue and act accordingly.
In Sharda University student suicide case, the body of the girl was shifted by university staff even before police came. As per police officials, since multiple people left fingerprints, crime scene got compromised, Bhatt told the court.
Similarly, in the IIT Kharagpur case, she was informed by varsity's Registrar that though a post mortem was conducted but details weren't known yet.
Ritam Mandal, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student of IIT Kharagpur allegedly died by suicide on July 18. She was a resident of Kolkata and was studying in a five-year dual degree programme. This was the fourth such case in the IIT Kharagpur campus since January this year.
Jyoti Sharma, a second-year BDS student, allegedly died by suicide in the hostel of Sharda University located in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida.
On July 25, in a detailed judgment in a plea filed by Sukdeb Saha, the Supreme Court had issued 15 pan-India guidelines to tackle the problems of rise in suicides, by directing heightened mental health care among students in educational institutions.
