IIT-B takes big action, suspends Prof Doolla as dean amid suicide row

IIT-Bombay professor Suryanarayana Doolla has been officially suspended from the deanship following three days of student protests over the death by suicide of second-year student Sahil Wakode, who was allegedly caught cheating during a mid-semester examination last Friday. Doolla, who was invigilating the examination, reported the incident to the higher authorities.

According to a statement issued by IIT-Bombay, Wakode was subsequently counselled and allowed to leave without any disciplinary action.

The suspension from deanship came after institute Director Prof Shireesh Kedare signed an 18-point charter of demands submitted by the protesting students on the evening of September 20.

Doolla, a faculty member of the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, was the invigilator during the examination in which Wakode was allegedly found using a mobile phone and seeking answers through ChatGPT.

Wakode died by suicide on September 18, hours after the examination.

The students’ demand for Doolla’s suspension was among the key provisions of the charter signed by the director after he met students holding a sit-in outside the institute’s main gate.

The meeting followed days of protests demanding accountability over Wakode’s death, an independent inquiry and reforms to IIT-Bombay’s academic and student-welfare systems.

The development marks a major escalation in the controversy surrounding the examination incident. Wakode’s parents have alleged harassment and caste-based discrimination and have held institute officials responsible for their son’s death.

Doolla’s name was subsequently included in the FIR registered on the basis of the family’s complaint. The allegations remain subject to investigation.

IIT-Bombay had earlier maintained that Wakode was found with a mobile phone during the mid-semester examination and had allegedly uploaded the question paper to an AI platform to seek answers.

The institute said he was counselled after the incident and assured that the matter would not adversely affect his academic career. It had also maintained that no disciplinary proceedings had been initiated against him at that stage.

The IIT-Bombay Faculty Forum had come out in support of Doolla, saying he was performing his duties as an invigilator and had reported the alleged examination malpractice in accordance with established institutional procedure.

The 18-point charter, however, goes well beyond the demand concerning Doolla. Students have sought an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Wakode’s death, a time-bound report, an open house with senior administrators and an apology over what they described as the public defamation of the student.

The charter also calls for a code of conduct for faculty, mental-health sensitisation, improvements to counselling services, changes to the disciplinary process and greater student representation.

Students have proposed a task force comprising students, faculty members, mental-health professionals and external experts to examine student distress on campus.

With Doolla’s suspension now formally following the signing of the charter, attention turns to the independent inquiry and the ongoing investigation into Wakode’s death.

The proceedings will determine the circumstances surrounding the examination incident and establish responsibility, if any, for the events that followed.