Mumbai: The suspension of Prof Suryanarayana Doolla as dean of administrative affairs at IIT Bombay, has sparked a wave of student responses, with representatives clarifying that their demand for the dean’s suspension was aimed at ensuring an impartial investigation into the alleged suicide of Sahil Wakode, a second‑year BTech student.
Prof Doolla, a faculty member in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, was the invigilator during a mid‑semester exam on Friday when Wakode was caught using his mobile phone to access ChatGPT. Hours later, Wakode was found dead in his hostel room, triggering campus protests and a wider debate on institutional accountability.
In a statement issued hours after Prof Doolla was removed as dean on Monday, the student body emphasized that their action was not intended to condone cheating. “The protest initiated by students was not intended to justify academic misconduct. It was a collective effort to raise concerns about systemic issues that have existed for some time and to seek meaningful and strong institutional reforms so that no student has to face circumstances of this nature again,” the statement read.
The representatives clarified that their demand was only limited to relieving Prof Doolla of his administrative role during the investigation: “Our demand was that he be relieved of his administrative duties as Dean of Administrative Affairs during the pendency of the investigation, as a precautionary measure to ensure that the investigation remains completely independent and cannot be influenced in any manner.”
While Prof Doolla has been suspended from his administrative post, student leaders underscored that they continue to stand with him as “a member of our faculty” and are not pre‑judging the inquiry.
The statement also urged that the tragedy should not be exploited by outside forces: “Concerns arising from Wakode’s death must be addressed within the institute and should not become a platform for external political interests, organisations, or narratives.”
Prof Doolla now faces charges of abetment to suicide and alleged caste‑based discrimination. His suspension has intensified scrutiny of IIT Bombay’s handling of exam stress, disciplinary procedures, and the growing challenge of AI‑driven malpractice.
‘No Complaint By Wakode’
In a related development, Prof Dr Rajkumar S Pant, Faculty Forum president of IIT Bombay, said the deceased student never made any complaint to the SC/ST Cell at the institute regarding alleged caste-based discrimination.
Prof Pant also backed Prof Suryanarayana Doolla and said he acted as per institutional rules after seeing the student use a mobile phone during an examination.
Doolla had only been relieved of his administrative duties as Dean of Administrative Affairs amid the ongoing investigation and continued to remain a teaching faculty member at IIT Bombay, Prof Pant told ANI on Tuesday.
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