The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought a status report from Delhi Police on the progress of its investigation into the death of a sixteen-year-old student of Delhi’s St. Columba’s School who died by suicide.
The student is reported to have left a suicide note in which he blamed a few school teachers who allegedly harassed him. The school principal subsequently suspended these teachers.
The student's father has now moved the High Court for the transfer of the investigation into the case from the Delhi Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
In the alternative, he has sought a direction for creating a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the case.
Justice Neena Bansal Krishna yesterday directed the Delhi Police to file its status report and posted the matter for further hearing in March. 2026.
The lawyer representing the deceased student's father (petitioner) Advocate Pritish Sabharwal, yesterday argued that no information is being given to the parents regarding the status of the investigation.
“Statements of the parents were filed yesterday, only after we filed the petition. The accused persons named in the suicide note are the teachers of the school. We are not aware if their statements have been recorded or if they have been called for investigation," he said.
Counsel representing the State opposed the plea since the investigation is ongoing and argued that the CBI is already “overburdened” with other cases.
“Please ask us to file the status report of the investigation. Investigation is going on, they are asking for transfer of the investigation to CBI. it has no role till now. Only if the court finds there is some issue it can be transferred to the Crime Branch. CBI is overburdened,” he stated.
In the petition, the deceased student's father claims that some teachers repeatedly subjected the student to humiliation by name-calling, intimidation, and verbal harassment.
These teachers repeatedly threatened to issue a Transfer Certificate (TC) to the student, creating fear, mental pressure, and emotional distress, said the petition.
The father claims that his son had even told a teacher that he was experiencing “suicidal thoughts.” However, the teacher did not inform the parents or school authorities about it, the plea said.
The petitioner adds that many students who have raised their voices against the teachers are being threatened.
"The teachers and the school staff are hand in gloves with the accused teachers who are responsible for harassing and abetting the suicide of Master, and they have been influencing the students by giving them threats to fail them in exams," the petition states.
The petitioner has further argued that a CBI probe is necessary to ensure that the investigation is independent, transparent, and credible.
Advocates Pritish Sabharwal, Shweta Singh, Mehvish Khan, Shiv Chopra, Sanjeet Kumar and Adarsh Lohia appeared for the petitioner.
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