"Needs to be looked into": Delhi High Court expresses concern over NLU Delhi student suicides

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday expressed concern about the death of a law student by suicide at the National Law University, Delhi (NLU Delhi).

The Division Bench of Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora was hearing a petition filed by the parents of the law student, who died by suicide at the NLU Delhi campus in September 2024.

The Court said that such incidents must be viewed seriously.

“The parents - ultimately, they have lost their daughter. Every one of us is concerned with this. This is an issue that actually needs to be looked into,” the Court remarked. 

The Bench noted that a ruling passed in 2025 the case concerning the suicide of Amity University student Sushant Rohilla is also relevant to the present matter.

"There is already a determination by this court where it has gone to some extent. We will see case-specific (measures) now," the Court said.

The Court has asked the counsel appearing for the University Grants Commission (UGC) to respond to a query regarding actions taken to implement the directions issued by the Supreme Court to curb student suicides.

The case will be heard next on February 17.

Three students of NLU Delhi died by suicide in September 2024, within the space of a few weeks. The plea before the Court has been filed by the parents of one of these students.

Senior Advocate Rajshekhar Rao appeared for the student’s family and told the Court that the family is seeking answers from the university on the circumstances that may have led to their daughter's death.

“This is not an adversarial petition. The parents want closure. Some aspects have been gone into in the previous order. The parents till today don’t have visibility on what the university has done to know why their daughter passed away under their watch. They want to know if the university has a view on the incident,” he told the Court. 

Rao, however, acknowledged that the university itself may not be responsible beyond a point.

“Students take their lives in a span of three months. Some happened within a few weeks or days after entering university. Somewhere, the university cannot be responsible,” he stated. 

Rao also apprised the Court that the law student’s parents are awaiting some resolution to their queries, before vacating the hostel room their daughter resided in at the university.

“I must be critical of myself. The girl's room is still locked. Parents were asked to vacate by the university. The parents have said, wait till proceedings go on. I will speak to the parents so that we can close that. Parents are struggling they need some help. They have not been given a death certificate,” he stated.

The Court eventually adjourned the hearing after Rao requested for time to counsel the parents.

In an earlier order dated January 8, Justice Jasmeet Singh had remarked that the petition raised an important issue relating to the mental health of students and appeared to be a public interest litigation. The matter was then placed before the Chief Justice, before it was assigned for a hearing by the present Division Bench.