Chennai: A public interest litigation has been filed in Madras high court to direct the Union government and IIT-Madras to constitute a committee comprising professors of IIT-M, headed by a retired judge of the high court to make suggestions to ensure that no such violent incident recur in IIT-M campus.
A division bench comprising Justices M.Sathyanarayanan and M.Sundar before whom the PIL filed by Ditty Mathew, pursuing her research in IIT and a friend of research scholar Sooraj, who was assaulted by a group of students in the IIT-M campus for participating in the ‘beef fest”, came up for hearing, posted to June 23, further hearing of the case.
In its brief order, the bench said the grievance expressed by the counsel for the petitioner is that despite one of the students being attacked and grievously injured no action has been taken by IIT. Per contra, Senior Counsel Vijay Narayanan appearing for IIT submitted that immediately after the incident a committee has been constituted and responses sought from students and are awaited and seeks time to file an affidavit to that effect.
According to petitioner, following a Facebook post on May 28 inviting friends to Himalaya lawns, the mess complex at IIT-M, for a discussion on the implications of the recent central government rule on prevention of trade of cattle for slaughter, around 50 people gathered there for talks and ate cooked beef and bread brought from outside the institute. Sooraj also participated in the event.
On May 30, Sooraj along with his friend Anoop, a research scholar in department of applied mechanics we-nt to the regular mess for lunch. While Anoop opted north Indian food, Sooraj had opted Jain menu. While they were eating at the mess, a group of eight students headed by Manish Kumar Singh questioned Sooraj whether he had participated in the ‘beef fest . When Sooraj said he attended the fest and ate beef, Manish and his gang brutally attacked him. He sustained grievous injuries particularly on his right eye. His friends in the mess took him to the institute hospital and later shifted him to Sankara Netralaya.
Police recorded his statement but except registration of FIR, no action has been against Manish and others. Due to political pressure, a false complaint has been registered against Sooraj. Manish had already involved in several violent incidents, she alleged.
She said the grievance redressal committee formed by the Institute after the incident had condemned the behavior and recommended counseling. But no stringent action was taken against Manish despite being a frequent trouble maker.She also sought a direction to the IIT to take disciplinary action and suspend Manish Kumar Singh, pending inquiry into his conduct particularly in the May 30 incident.
