Delhi High Court - Orders
Courts On Its Own Motion In Re: Suicide ... vs Unknown on 14 November, 2024
Author: Prathiba M. Singh
Bench: Prathiba M. Singh, Amit Sharma
$~4
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P.(CRL) 793/2017 & CRL.M.A. 13198/2017, 16639/2017,
3556/2018, 8850/2024
COURTS ON ITS OWN MOTION IN RE: SUICIDE COMMITTED
BY SUSHANT ROHILLA, LAW STUDENT OF I.P. UNIVER
.....Petitioner
Through: Mr. Dayan Krishnan, Senior Advocate
(Amicus Curiae) with Mr. Sukrit Seth,
Ms. Aakashi Lodha and Mr. Sanjeevi
Seshadri, Advs. (M: 9871167778).
versus
....... .....Respondent
Through: Mr. Ashok Mahajan, Mr. Raajan
Chawla, Mr. Gautam Chauhan and Mr.
Shyam Singh, Advocates for R-
1/Amity Law School (M-
9899649343).
Mr. Kirtiman Singh, CGSC, Mr.
Waize Ali Noor, Mr. Varun Pratap
Singh, Mr. Maulik Khurana & Mr.
Ranjeev Khatana, Advs. for Union of
India (M: 9871221149).
Ms. Nandita Rao, ASC (criminal) for
Delhi Police with Mr. Amit Peswani,
Advocate. Ms. Bharathi Raju, Senior
Panel Counsel for UOI (M-
9868895906).
Ms. Avnish Ahlawat, Standing
Counsel for NSUT, DTU, IGDTUW
with Mr. N.K.Singh, Ms. Laavanya
Kaushik, Ms. Aliza Alam, Mr.
Mohnish Sehrawat and Mr. A.
Chadha, Advocates.
Mr. Piyush Sharma and Mr. Anuj
Kumar Sharma, Advocates for IARI
(M: 9999177068).
This is a digitally signed order. W.P.(CRL) 793/2017 Page 1 of 7
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.
The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 16/11/2024 at 01:02:16
Mr. Vibhakar Mishra, Advocate for
Lal Bahadur Shashtri University. (M:
9810092597).
Mr. Sanjay Vashishtha, Standing
Counsel for NLUD with Ms. Harshita
Rai and Ms. Vasudha Saini, Advocates
(M- 7309891469).
Mr. T. Singhdev and Mr. Abhijit
Chakravarty, Ms. Yamini Singh, Mr.
Aabhaas Sukhramani, Advocates for
NMC and DCI (M: 8130033159).
Mr. Ankit Jain and Ms. Divyanshu
Rathi, Advocates for ILI (M-
8396996188).
Mr. Harsh Kaushik and Mr. Arpit
Srivastava, Advocates for R-2 (M-
9811132899).
Mr. Keshav Datta, Mr. Rupal Luthra
Advocates for Intervenor (M-
9871919591).
Mr. Amitesh Kumar and Ms. Priti
Kumari, Mr. Mrinal Kishor,
Advocates for R-27 (M-
7503397704).
Ms. Anju Bhushan Gupta and Mr.
Sanyam Gupta, Mr Aditya Goel,
Advocates for R- 33/TERI SAS (M-
9810298766).
Ms. Ginny J. Rautray, Ms. Devika
Thakur and Mr. Ranvijay Singh,
Advocates for R-12 and 22/IIFT and
JNU (M- 9811287117).
Mr. Joby P. Varghese, Advocate for R-
29 (M- 9899855689).
Mr. Preet Pal Singh, Ms. Tanupreet
Kaur, Ms. Akansha Singh, Mr.
Madhukar Pandey & Mr. Yash Saini,
Advocates for BCI (M:8800848307).
This is a digitally signed order. W.P.(CRL) 793/2017 Page 2 of 7
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.
The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 16/11/2024 at 01:02:16
Mr. Atul Kumar, Ms. Sweety Singh,
Mr. Rahul Pandey, Mr. Sudipta Singha
Roy, Advs. for AIIMS (M:
9818385222).
Mr. Neeraj Verma, Adv. for R-24.
Ms. Pragya Parijat Singh, Mr.
Lakshay Saini, Advs. for R-32 South
Asian University (M: 9999705006).
Mr. Arjun Mitra, Adv. for IITD (M:
9810412737).
Mr. Mohinder Rupal, Mr. Hardik
Rupal, Ms. Aishwarya Malhotra,
Advs. for R-34 (M: 8377943421).
Mr. Pritish Sabharwal, Standing
Counsel for JMI University
(M:9871878690).
Mr. Hardik Rupal, Ms. Aishwarya
Malhotra, Advs., Mr. Takrim, Legal
Officer for R-20.
Mr. Siddharth Panda and Mr. Anil
Pandey Advocates for R-19 (ILBS)
(M: 9891488088).
CORAM:
JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH
JUSTICE AMIT SHARMA
ORDER
% 14.11.2024
1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.
2. The present petition began due to an extremely unfortunate incident which resulted in the loss of a young life. A letter dated 20th August, 2016 was sent to Hon'ble the Chief Justice of India by one Raghav Sharma, wherein he sought help and assistance for the sister of Sh. Sushant Rohilla, a student of Amity Law School, Delhi, who had unfortunately committed suicide. The said letter was based on an allegation that the deceased had been subjected to This is a digitally signed order. W.P.(CRL) 793/2017 Page 3 of 7 The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 16/11/2024 at 01:02:16 harassment by the institution and some faculty members, for maintaining low attendance. He was forced to repeat an entire academic year in the B.A.LL.B. course. He passed away on 10th August, 2016 and had also made allegations against some of the faculty members of the institution. As per Raghav Sharma, he was a friend of the deceased and he stated that Sushant was an extremely talented individual. Raghav Sharma sent a letter petition to the Hon'ble Chief Justice of India wherein he prayed for appointment of a committee and for formulation of rules and regulations for all colleges and institutions of higher education across the country. The prayer he seeks in his letter petition dated 20th August, 2024 is set out below:
"10. Though there exists a report by Raghavan Committee formed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in SLP No.(s) 24295 of 2006 which caters to the menace of Ragging but the tormented psychological state of students in colleges and universities due to mental harassment by the authorities and professors is still waiting for cognizance. Hence, in light of all the events I have put forth above, it is humbly requested from the Hon'ble Supreme Court to take cognizance of this matter and perhaps constitute an Independent Committee which will not only go in depth to the case of Sushant's harassment and torture by the respective professor and ignorance of all this by other authorities but thereafter also formulates rules and regulations for all colleges and Institutes of Higher Education across the country to look into the mental health issues faced by students due to such reasons. I would be happy to make myself available for any committee and any inquiry looking into this matter"
3. This letter was considered on 05th September, 2016 by the Hon'ble Supreme Court and the following order was passed:-
"Heard.
We request Mr. F.S.Nariman, learned senior counsel to assist us in this matter. A copy of the writ petition paperbook shall be furnished to Mr. F.S.Nariman by the Registry. Mr. This is a digitally signed order. W.P.(CRL) 793/2017 Page 4 of 7 The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 16/11/2024 at 01:02:16 Siddharth Luthra, learned senior counsel who has entered appearance on behalf of Amity Law School and Mr. Ashok Mahajan are free to file any response/documents. Post after the needful is done."
4. Thereafter, on 06th February, 2017 a direction was given to the law school's Founder President to file an affidavit. Thereafter, on 06th March, 2017, the writ petition was transferred to this Court. The said order reads as under:-
"Let this writ petition be transferred to Delhi High Court, to be heard and decided on merits in accordance with law. Parties may appear before the High Court on 14.03.2017. Let the record of the case be transferred. "
5. Upon the transfer of the matter to this Court in terms of the directions passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court on 6th March, 2017 submissions have been heard from time to time on the various issues which were raised by the letter petition through Mr. Raghav Sharma in respect of attendance requirements, mental health issues faced by students etc. which are the larger issues that arise in this matter.
6. Further orders have been passed on 9th September, 2024, 14th October, 2024 and 6th November, 2024 on the question as to whether attendance requirements should be made mandatory or not. Apart from the various statutory bodies who are already appearing before the Court, directions were also issued to the Ministry of Education, Government of India to conduct a stakeholders consultation. An affidavit dated 13 th November, 2024 has been filed by the Ministry today setting out some of the responses received and the outcome of the consultation process. Thus the larger issues continue to remain under consideration before this Court.
7. Insofar as, the student whose unfortunate demise had occurred is This is a digitally signed order. W.P.(CRL) 793/2017 Page 5 of 7 The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 16/11/2024 at 01:02:16 concerned, the family of the said student which includes the parents Shri Jagdish Kumar, Smt. Sushila as also the sister Ms. Mehak Rohilla Datta and the law school concerned have arrived at an out-of-Court settlement, whereby it has been agreed that all the pending cases qua the parties shall be closed.
8. It is a matter of record that FIR No. 153/2017 P.S. Sarojini Nagar had been registered under Section 306 of the IPC. Upon completion of investigation, the Crime Branch filed a closure report before the concerned ACJM. Finally, vide the order dated 3rd October, 2024 the ld. ACJM in a detailed judgment held that there is no material which includes commission of any offense under Section 306 of the IPC and accepted the cancellation report dated 6th January 2018. The sister had filed a protest petition, which was, however, directed to be registered as a complaint case separately. The operative portion of the said judgement dated 3rd October, 2024 is set out below:
"41. In light of the legal position cited above, it has to be concluded that there is no material on record which indicates commission of offence punishable under Section 306 IPC. In this view of the matter, the cancellation report is accepted.
42. Protest petition filed by the complainant is treated as a complaint case and is directed to be registered separately."
9. In view of the out of Court settlement which has been arrived at between the family of the deceased and the concerned Law School and satisfaction of the settlement terms, the sister undertakes not to proceed with the protest petition which is converted into a private complaint. A copy of this order is directed to be placed before concerned Ld. ACJM for necessary information and compliance.
This is a digitally signed order. W.P.(CRL) 793/2017 Page 6 of 7The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 16/11/2024 at 01:02:16
10. Insofar as CRL.M.P. 19694/2016 filed in the present writ petition is concerned, the said application is merely for intervention and for making submissions before the Court. In view of the fact that the out-of-Court settlement has been arrived at, the said application is also disposed of as withdrawn. However, Counsel representing the family of the deceased may continue to assist the Court on the larger issues.
11. The applications CRL.M.P. 19694/2016, CRL.M.A. 13198/2017 & CRL.M.A 3556/2018 are withdrawn and disposed of as settled.
12. The names of Respondents No. 4 and 5 who are Professors in the law school, shall stand deleted from the array of parties. However, Amity Law School, Delhi shall remain as a party only for assistance to the Court and no allegations against Amity Law School, Delhi or the associated Amity University, shall be pressed any further or considered.
13. Insofar as, the main issues are concerned the affidavit dated 13 th November, 2024 filed by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, is taken on record.
14. In terms of the previous order the Bar Council of India has to file its report by 10th December, 2024.
15. Accordingly, list this matter for further consideration on 16th December, 2024.
PRATHIBA M. SINGH, J.
AMIT SHARMA, J.
NOVEMBER 14, 2024/kr/pr/bh This is a digitally signed order. W.P.(CRL) 793/2017 Page 7 of 7 The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 16/11/2024 at 01:02:16