Amity students to ask SC for measures against harassment

A group of students from Amity Law School are set to request the Supreme Court to set guidelines to protect students from mental harassment by officials of colleges and universities.

A group of students from Amity Law School Delhi are set to request the Supreme Court to set guidelines to protect students from mental harassment by officials of colleges and universities. The move comes almost a month after 3rd year Amity Law School Delhi (ALSD) student Sushant Rohilla committed suicide after allegedly being harassed by his teachers.

The move comes almost a month after 3rd year Amity Law School Delhi (ALSD) student Sushant Rohilla committed suicide after allegedly being harassed by his teachers. (Sunil Ghosh/HT File Photo)

The Supreme Court took cognizance of Rohilla’s suicide saying it would examine whether there was an “element of suspicion” that the incident took place due to “harassment”.

A bench of Chief Justice TS Thakur and justice DY Chandrachud had also appointed senior advocate Fali S. Nariman as amicus curiae to assist it in the suicide case.

SC took notice of the suicide after Rohilla’s batchmate Raghav Sharma wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of India, drawing his attention towards the alleged harassment.

“First of all, we will have to wait and see whether the legal luminary Nariman will suggest if this case could be of public importance. We will then request SC to set up certain guidelines for mental harassment faced by students in colleges and universities across the country. There are rules for ragging to save the students but what about the ragging by the college authorities. Till now, there has been no guideline to protect students from mental harassment by institutional authorities,” said Prem Prakash, an alumnus of ALSD.

On August 10, Sushant Rohilla, a BA LLB student, was found dead at his residence in Laxmi Bai Nagar of Delhi. Rohilla’s friends and family said he took the step after he was debarred from writing the annual examinations.

Rohilla had 43% attendance whereas a minimum of 70% is required to appear in examinations, as per university norms.

Rohilla’s sister Mehak, who had been spearheading the campaign demanding action against two teachers who were accused of harassment, said that she was thankful to the Supreme Court for taking cognizance of the case.

“We hope that the vacuum in the educational institutions across the country for guidelines against mental harassment of students can be filled after SC took cognizance,” Mehak said.