After initially backing Professor Suryanarayana Doolla over caste discrimination against a student who committed suicide on 18th September after being caught cheating in an exam, IIT Bombay has, on 21st September, suspended the deanship of Professor Suryanarayana Doolla with immediate effect. Professor Doolla’s suspension from the key administrative position was communicated to students via an email by IIT Bombay Director Professor Shireesh Kedare on Monday.
“The Deanship of Prof. Suryanarayana Doolla is suspended with immediate effect. Any further action will be taken after investigation,” the email reads.
SOCIAL JUSTICE! pic.twitter.com/2A7ijVffZL
— Rahul Shivshankar (@RShivshankar) September 21, 2026
Professor Doolla earlier served as the Dean of Students Affairs at IIT-Bombay, and was currently the Dean of Administrative Affairs.
In addition, IIT Bombay succumbed to the protests pushing ‘caste atrocity’ claims and has also apologised for its previous statements denying caste discrimination allegations levelled against Professor Doolla.
“We apologise for the statements contained in our earlier communication concerning the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate demise of Sahil. The details and circumstances leading up to the incident remain subject to investigation by the appropriate authorities. In view of the ongoing investigation, it was inappropriate to have set out or characterised details relating to the events preceding his demise before they had been duly established through the appropriate investigative process,” it stated.
The “immediate suspension” of Professor Doolla was among the 18 demands raised by protesting students. Although the students demanded Doolla’s suspension as professor, the IIT Bombay director restricted the action to only suspending Doolla’s deanship.
Notably, a 2nd-year BTech student at IIT Bombay took his own life on Friday (18th September) after being caught red-handed by Professor Suryanarayana Doolla. He later committed suicide in his hostel room.
Thereafter, protests emerged on the campus of the institute, demanding action against the esteemed faculty member. A day later, on Saturday (19th September), Sahil’s parents alleged that Professor Doolla had been mentally harassing and using casteist slurs against their son for 3 months at the behest of IIT Bombay’s Director Shireesh Kedare.
It is pertinent to mention that not a single complaint was ever filed against Professor Doolla or Shireesh Kedare either with the administration or the SC/ST cell of IIT Bombay during Sahil’s tenure at the institute.
