Calcutta HC pulls up IIT-Kharagpur over death of student – Hindustan Times

The Calcutta high court on Thursday issued a sharp reprimand to the director of IIT-Kharagpur over the death of a third-year student in October amid allegations of ragging inside the institute’s hostel.

The 23-year-old student who was a resident of Assam was found in a decomposed state in his hostel room on October 14. His parents had moved the court questioning the role of the institute’s authorities.

In November, following allegations from a team of hostel wardens regarding ragging incidents in the hostel, a single judge bench of justice Rajasekhar Mantha had ordered the institute’s director to file a report on the steps taken to crack down on these incidents. The bench had also directed the IIT director to name the students involved in ragging.

On November 23, the institute submitted a three-page report to the court in connection with the alleged ragging incidents in the hostel.

Speaking after Thursday’s hearing, Ranajeet Chatterjee, who is representing the parents of the student, said: “The court has ordered that the IIT director appear before it on December 20, the next date of hearing, after it was visibly unsatisfied with the report submitted by the director.”

“The report didn’t name any student. It was then that the bench expressed its displeasure and asked the director to remain present on the next date of hearing,” said Chatterjee.

The IIT-registrar could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Earlier in November the single bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha ordered the director of IIT Kharagpur to file a report on the steps the institute had taken to stop “ragging” after complaints had poured from a team of wardens from a students’ hostel.

As the student hailed from Assam, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had on October 20 had asked his West Bengal counterpart, Mamata Banerjee, to conduct a thorough investigation conducted into the circumstances surrounding the student’s death.