IIT Bombay removes dean

Mumbai: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Bombay) on Monday said it has removed Suryanarayana Doolla, Dean of Administrative Affairs, from his post, amid protests by students and Youth Congress workers over the death by suicide of a 22-year-old student. Doolla has been named in the FIR in the case, which alleges abetment to suicide on grounds of caste discrimination. He has been booked under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and on abetment to suicide charge.

The institute also issued a public apology after students accused it of ‘defaming’ the student, Sahil Wakode, without a detailed inquiry, in a previous communication.

“In view of the ongoing investigation, it was inappropriate to have set out or characterised details relating to the events preceding Sahil’s demise before they had been duly established through the appropriate investigative process,” it added.

In a statement on Saturday, the institute said Sahil had allegedly uploaded the examination question paper to ChatGPT to seek answers during the exam. However, no disciplinary action was initiated against him, it had said. The decision to remove Doolla as dean failed to impress the protesting students, who said they had sought his suspension as a professor and not merely his removal from an administrative position.

The decision to remove Doolla, a former Dean of Students Affairs, was communicated to students in an email by IIT-Bombay Director Shireesh Kedare.