IIT Bombay faculty forum backs Doolla, plans protest march amid student suicide row

After Professor Suryanarayana Doolla was removed from his position as Dean of Administrative Affairs, the IIT Bombay Faculty Forum came out in support of him and is planning a march on campus, sources told India Today. Doolla has been under scrutiny following the death of a 22-year-old student, Sahil Wakode, on September 18. The Faculty Forum has maintained that Doolla was performing his duties as an invigilator and had followed the institute’s prescribed procedure after allegedly detecting academic malpractice during an examination.

In a statement issued on September 21 at 3 pm, the Faculty Forum said Professor Doolla had only been temporarily relieved of his responsibilities as Dean (Administrative Affairs). The measure, it said, was intended to allow an independent and unbiased inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

The clarification came amid reports concerning the professor's role and the events preceding the student's death. The Faculty Forum said Doolla was a senior member of the faculty and had received several academic and teaching honours, including two awards based entirely on student feedback.

It also referred to his tenure as Dean (Student Affairs), during which, according to the Forum, several initiatives concerning student welfare were established.

The faculty body objected to what it described as "false and misleading" reports concerning Professor Doolla, saying that such reports had affected his reputation before the inquiry had established the facts.

At the same time, the Forum said it was deeply saddened by the death of the student and acknowledged the grief surrounding the incident.

The statement placed before the institute the question of how an institution should respond to a death on campus while an inquiry into the circumstances remains under way.

The Forum said that sympathy for the student who had died and fairness to those whose conduct was under examination need not stand in opposition to one another, and that both principles ought to guide the institutional response.

The statement was signed by Professor Rajkumar S. Pant, president of the IIT Bombay Faculty Forum. The Faculty Forum is a formal body of IIT Bombay comprising around 750 faculty members and serves as a platform through which faculty members raise concerns and communicate their views to the institute and other bodies.- EndsPublished By: Rishab ChauhanPublished On: Sep 21, 2026 18:03 IST