The Supreme Court on Friday strongly criticized the Rajasthan government over the alarming rise in student suicides in Kota, asking pointedly, “Why are these children dying by suicide—and why only in Kota?” A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, hearing multiple cases including the deaths of a 22-year-old IIT Kharagpur student and a NEET aspirant in Kota, said the situation was “serious” and questioned the state’s apparent indifference.
The court was informed that 14 student suicides had already been reported from Kota in 2024 alone. When asked what the government was doing, the state’s counsel claimed a special investigation team (SIT) had been constituted to look into the cases. However, the bench was far from convinced, criticizing delays in registering FIRs and calling out a lack of urgency in responding to these deaths.
In the IIT Kharagpur case, the court noted a disturbing four-day delay in lodging the FIR, which was filed only on May 8 despite the suicide occurring on May 4. “Don’t take these things lightly. These are very serious,” Justice Pardiwala remarked, warning that the court could have initiated contempt proceedings against the police officer in charge.
Similarly, in the NEET aspirant’s case from Kota, the bench expressed dissatisfaction over the non-filing of an FIR and reminded the Rajasthan government that they were in contempt of the Supreme Court’s March 24 verdict. That ruling had called for the formation of a national task force to address the growing mental health crisis among students and directed police to file FIRs promptly in all such cases.
Despite claims from the state that an investigation is ongoing and the SIT is aware of the issue, the court found this insufficient. It emphasized that even though the NEET aspirant had been living with her parents and not in her institute’s accommodation, the police were still duty-bound to act immediately.
Summoning the police officer concerned in the Kota case to appear before the bench on July 14, the court made it clear: the authorities must explain their inaction, and investigations must move forward “in the right direction and expeditiously.”
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