Teachers must realise consequences of humiliating students: SC denies bail to Dental HoD in BDS student suicide case
New Delhi: Observing that classroom humiliation can leave a lasting psychological impact on students and that teachers must realise the consequences of their actions as times have changed, the Supreme Court recently refused to grant anticipatory bail to the Head of Department of Dental Anatomy at Kannur Dental College. The doctor has been accused of abetting the suicide of a student and making caste-based remarks against him.
Dismissing the bail plea, a division bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta upheld the Kerala High Court's earlier order, which refused him pre-arrest bail. Before this, the session court also refused to grant bail to the HoD, the prime accused in the case, due to his alleged humiliating behaviour that reportedly led the student to commit suicide.
The SC bench, while hearing the bail plea filed by the accused HoD refused to interfere and said, "A teacher must realise the consequences of humiliating a student. It will have a wonderful effect for the students that a teacher can't walk away with this kind of behaviour. The message has to go that you cannot behave in this way with the students."
The professor has been booked under Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for abetment of suicide and under Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Background:
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the student died on April 10 after allegedly falling from a college building under suspicious circumstances. He was found critically injured on a stone-paved area between the administrative block and the hospital building at around 1:30 pm. Though he was rushed to the medical college hospital for treatment, he later succumbed to his injuries.
The student's parents alleged that he was subjected to emotional and verbal harassment by faculty members over his dark complexion and poor family background. According to the family, teachers allegedly used derogatory remarks such as "slum dog" and "rabid dog" against him.
Following the incident, the Head of the Dental Anatomy Department was expelled from the college.
While police initially registered a case of unnatural death, the charges were later altered to abetment of suicide and offences under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act after the family alleged caste-based harassment.
Meanwhile, Kannur Cyber Police registered a separate case after it emerged that the student had allegedly borrowed money through a loan application. The app operators reportedly contacted one of his teachers, who later informed the college authorities.
After the student's death, both accused doctors went into hiding and approached the court seeking anticipatory bail. During the hearing before the sessions court, the former HoD denied allegations of caste-based or racial harassment. He claimed that the student was "weak in studies" and that he had only advised him to improve, as his internal marks were very low. The doctor further claimed that he was under pressure due to harassment by loan app operators and denied any role in the student’s death.
Kerala HC observation
The Kerala High Court orally remarked that students were being treated cruelly in medical colleges in the State, noting that there were many complaints. This observation was made while hearing an anticipatory bail plea of the Head of the Department.
"In Kerala, medical colleges are ruining students. No doubt about it. They are very cruelly treating students, even PG students. Many complaints. Very, very serious matter...Generally.. I am not saying that you have done it.. Generally, these are very, very serious allegations," the bench orally observed, while expressing concern at the seriousness of the matter.
The anticipatory bail plea was filed by the Head of the Department of Dental Anatomy at Kannur Dental College, against the order of the Session Court. The HoD has been arrayed as the prime accused in the abetment to suicide case of a dental student from the institute. The second accused in the matter is a Professor at the institute. While the Sessions Court had granted pre-arrest bail to the second accused, it had dismissed the bail application against the prime accused, the HoD.
The High Court had opined that there was prima facie commission of offence under Section 3(1)(r) of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the statutory bar against grant of anticipatory bail would apply. The Court found that there was nothing to rebut the statutory presumption under the SC/ST Act that the accused had knowledge that the deceased belonged to the SC/ST community. It was also noted that the accused used to single out the deceased and made derogatory remarks to humiliate him in the presence of his classmates.
SC observation
During the recent hearing, the counsel for the accused argued that although he may have been a strict teacher, that alone should not be a reason to deny anticipatory bail. It was submitted that the alleged classroom humiliation had taken place nearly a month before the student's death and that the immediate reason behind the suicide was harassment by loan recovery agents over a high-interest loan of Rs 15,000.
He further said that another professor had complained to the principal about the student's loan shortly before the suicide, as she was allegedly made the guarantor by the victim for the loan taken, as loan app recovery agents had allegedly harassed both the professor shown as guarantor and the student. He further submitted that those loan app operators had already been arrested and remanded, contending that the immediate trigger for the suicide was the loan-related harassment rather than the earlier conduct of the HOD.
The defence also informed the Court that denying anticipatory bail in such circumstances would have a "chilling effect" on professors seeking to maintain discipline in educational institutions, even if they occasionally crossed the line,
The counsel further argued that denying anticipatory bail in such cases could discourage teachers from maintaining discipline in educational institutions.
However, the Supreme Court was not convinced. Justice Mehta observed that the cumulative effect of the alleged conduct could not be ignored.
Opposing the criminalisation of strict teaching methods, the counsel said, "A teacher can become overbearing in the interest of the student."
However, the Bench said, "Times have changed. Maybe in our days beating was the norm… now things have changed," adding that if a student is insulted before classmates, the psychological impact cannot be ignored, Law Beat reported.
"A teacher must realise the consequences of humiliating a student," Justice Mehta said, adding that "the message has to go that you cannot behave in this way with the students."
Referring to the emotional impact of repeated humiliation, the Bench remarked that every incident adds up and ultimately reaches a tipping point.
"As they say, 'ghada bhar jata hai'. He has to realise the consequences of his actions for the students. A student is insulted in the classroom in the presence of co-students. What would be the ultimate impact on such students?" Justice Mehta remarked, reports Live Law.
Rejecting the argument that arrest would discourage teachers from enforcing discipline, the Bench underscored the need for accountability in educational institutions.
"It will have a wonderful effect for the students that a teacher can't walk away with this kind of behaviour. The message has to go that you cannot behave in this way with the students," the Bench observed.
With these observations, the Supreme Court dismissed the special leave petition, leaving the Kerala High Court's order intact.
