Mumbai: The registration of an FIR naming IIT Bombay professor Suryanarayana Doolla as an accused in connection with the suicide of a Dalit student has triggered a debate over allegations of misuse of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Doolla, a professor of Energy Sciences at IIT Bombay, was named in the FIR filed by the parents of second-year student Sahil Wakode. The parents have allegedly accused the professor of harassing their son over the past three months. The allegations are yet to be established through investigation.
The controversy intensified after the institute initially stated that Wakode had resorted to malpractice during a mid-semester examination. IIT Bombay subsequently apologised for what it described as an “inappropriate” statement.
Following the FIR, faculty members at IIT Bombay and other institutions, including IIT Delhi, have expressed solidarity with Doolla. Socio-political activist and former BJP leader Sudheendra Kulkarni, an IIT Bombay alumnus, also called for the withdrawal of the case under the SC/ST Act, arguing that the law should not be invoked automatically against individuals belonging to upper-caste communities when an SC or ST student dies by suicide.
Kulkarni described such situations as “reverse casteism” and argued that suicides among students occur across caste and community groups for varied reasons.
JNU professor Anand Ranganathan also expressed support for Doolla, highlighting his academic credentials and teaching awards. Ranganathan said Doolla had recently caught a student allegedly cheating before the student died by suicide.
However, critics of the campaign have urged that the allegations made by the student’s family be investigated before conclusions are drawn. Sunil Rajak, founder and CEO of Ocotillo Innovation and visiting faculty at IMT Ghaziabad, termed claims of SC/ST Act misuse premature and said those making such assertions were not present when the alleged events occurred.
IIT Bombay alumnus Pranab Jeevan said the student’s parents had the right to invoke specific legal provisions while seeking an investigation into their son’s death. He also pointed to concerns surrounding student suicides at IITs and argued that broader institutional issues should receive attention.
The case has consequently brought questions surrounding student welfare, caste-related allegations, institutional accountability and the application of the SC/ST Act into focus. The allegations against Doolla remain subject to investigation.
