New Delhi: Suryanarayana Doolla, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay professor who is facing scrutiny following the death of second-year BTech student Sahil Wakode, has been sent on leave. The institute has also constituted a 10-member committee to examine the circumstances leading to Wakode’s death by suicide.
According to officials, the IIT Bombay Board of Governors took both decisions Monday. The committee—headed by Ramesh Venkateswaran, chairperson of Board of Governors of IIT Palakkad—has been asked to submit its report within a week. It also includes student representatives, as demanded by protesting students.
Doolla was the invigilator during the examination in which Wakode was allegedly caught using a mobile phone. Wakode, a second-year student of the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, was found dead in his hostel room on 18 September, hours after the examination.
Earlier, the institute had suspended Doolla’s deanship. However, protesting students had been demanding that he be suspended from the institution and an independent inquiry be undertaken.
Wakode’s parents have alleged that their son was subjected to caste-based discrimination by Doolla. They reiterated the claim while speaking to media persons Tuesday, saying that Sahil had raised the issue with them about three months ago.
Based on their complaint, the police registered an FIR naming Professor Doolla and others, under provisions related to abetment of suicide and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The case has since been transferred to the Mumbai Crime Branch, which is carrying out the investigation.
IIT Bombay faculty members have come out in support of Professor Doolla, saying they “stand strongly” with their colleague. The statement was issued by the Faculty Forum of the institute, which represents around 750 faculty members.
Faculty members of IIT Madras also extended support to Doolla, with the faculty association calling for a “fair, transparent and time-bound” inquiry into the incident.
Meanwhile, student representatives, in a statement issued late Monday, said the matter should remain “student-led” and be addressed within the institute, without external “political interests” or organisations shaping the concerns of the IIT Bombay student community.
On Professor Doolla, the representatives said their position had “never been one of presuming guilt or prejudging the ongoing investigation”. They said they stood with him as a member of the faculty community and wanted the investigation to proceed “fairly and impartially”.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)