Published Jul 17, 2024 | 12:01 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 17, 2024 | 12:01 PM
Judge Hariprasad submits inquiry report. (Supplied)
Former Kerala High Court Judge A Hariprasad on Wednesday, 17 July, handed over the inquiry commission report of the probe on veterinary student JS Sidharthan’s death to Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan.
The inquiry commission headed by Judge Hariprasad, was appointed by Governor Khan on 28 March to probe the purported administrative lapses on the part of the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU) authorities in the death of the second-year student.
In March the Kerala Raj Bhavan issued a notification which stated that the commission would conduct an inquiry into “the lapses, omissions with regard to the administration of the campus and hostel, the omissions or refusal, if any, on the part of authorities/officers of the university in performing their duties in terms of the (KVASU) Act, Statutes, Regulations, and Anti-Ragging Regulations issued by the UGC (University Grants Commission).”
It also added that the commission shall report on the failures, if any, on the part of the then-vice chancellor Dr MR Saseendranath in preventing the incident.
As per a communique from the Governor’s Secretariat, the report furnished by the KVASU vice-chancellor and registrar prima facie showed serious administrative lapses on the side of the university authorities and officers in taking timely action in the matter.
Thus, he “found it necessary to have an inquiry conducted into the administrative lapses, the failure of authorities/officers to prevent ragging and other criminal activities in the university campus”, said the communique.
The commission had to submit the report within three months with effect from the date of its first sitting of inquiry.
As per the terms of reference fixed for the panel:
Siddharthan’s death had sent shockwaves across the state, sparking widespread outrage. The 20-year-old was found hanging in the bathroom of the college hostel on 18 February.
His parents claimed that some of his college mates told them that he was brutally beaten to death by some local SFI leaders and activists.
The father contended that according to the postmortem report, his son’s body had three days’ worth of injuries and an empty stomach, which indicated that he was assaulted viciously and not given any food.
The police, which initially registered a case of unnatural death, later booked 12 students for various offences, under sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon), 306 (Abetment of suicide), of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Kerala Prohibition of Ragging Act.
Later, the number of accused increased to 18, all of whom have been arrested and remanded to judicial custody.
(Edited by Sumavarsha Kandula, with inputs from Dileep V Kumar.)
