Student suicides: SC seeks probe report from police of 3 states

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday asked for a status report from the police in three states on the investigation over the suicides by students of IIT-Delhi, IIT-Kharagpur and a NEET aspirant in Kota, Rajasthan.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, which made Ministry of Home Affairs a party in the case, expressed concern over suicides in institutions of higher learning.

Amicus curiae senior advocate Aparna Bhatt had sought the ministry's assistance on the issue.

The bench asked Delhi Police tell the status of the investigation in the FIRs it directed on March 24 on the complaints of the family members of two students who died by suicide in 2023 while studying in IIT-Delhi.

"We want to see what progress has been made in the investigation. We want to know what has been done by you after the FIR was registered. You must tell us what has been done," the bench told the counsel appearing for the Delhi government.

It also asked West Bengal Police to apprise about the investigation into the suicide by the IIT-Kharagpur student on May 4 leading to an FIR on May 8.

Similarly, the top court asked Rajasthan Police to give the status of the investigation into the death of the NEET aspirant found hanging in her room in Kota, where she lived with her parents.

The bench posted the hearing on July 21.

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. Both were studying in IIT-Delhi.

On May 23, the top court grilled the Rajasthan government over the surge in student suicides in the city of Kota calling the situation "serious".

It said 14 suicide cases had been reported from the city so far in 2025.

The top court referred to a March 24 verdict of the top court which took note of 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.

The top court appointed former apex court judge Justice S Ravindra Bhat as the chairperson of the NTF and said 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 NTF, the apex court said, 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.

The NTF was further tasked to conduct surprise inspections of any higher educational institution.

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 order FIR over the suicides by the students.

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.

Referring to a 2023 data, the top court said 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.