The Telangana High Court has recently closed the petitions filed by various accused in the 2016 suicide case of PhD scholar Rohit Vemula after the police submitted a closure report.
Justice EV Venugopal presided over the decision, noting that the complainant retains the right to challenge the closure report as permitted by law.
“All these writ petitions are disposed of giving liberty to the de-facto complainant to avail the remedies as available under law to challenge the closure of the case as ‘lack of evidence’ since the closure report filed by the prosecution is pending adjudication before the trial court,” the Court stated.
Background of Rohit Vemula’s Suicide
Rohit Vemula, a PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad, died by suicide in January 2016. His death followed the cessation of his stipend and his suspension along with four other student leaders for allegedly assaulting a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a right-wing student organization. Vemula was a member of the Ambedkar Students Association (ASA), and it was alleged that he and other ASA members, including complainant Dontha Prashanth, faced harassment from university authorities and ABVP leaders.
The case was filed under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989. The accused included Podile Apparao, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Hyderabad, and former legislative council member N Ramachandra Rao.
Court Proceedings and Police Report
In 2016, the accused filed petitions seeking the quashing of the criminal case. Recently, the State informed the Court of its decision to close the case due to insufficient evidence, presenting a final report to the trial court. The High Court reviewed this closure report, which indicated that Vemula did not belong to a Scheduled Caste and suggested that his involvement in student politics negatively impacted his academic and career prospects. The report further mentioned that multiple factors could have contributed to Vemula’s suicide and that no evidence directly linked the accused to his death.
Considering the closure report, the Court decided to close the petitions aimed at quashing the case.
Legal Representation
The petitioners were represented by advocates MV Sumanth, VT Kalyan, T Balamohan Reddy, D Narendar Naik, and S Sriram. Assistant Public Prosecutor Vizarath Ali represented the State, while Senior Advocate UD Jai Bhima Rao represented other respondents.
Further Investigation
Amid criticism over the closure report, the police have decided to pursue further investigation into the case. Telangana Director General of Police Ravi Gupta indicated that an application would be submitted to the trial court to reopen the investigation, as reported by The Indian Express.
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