HC judge recuses self from Amity suicide case

A judge of the Delhi high court on Tuesday recused himself from hearing a case of the alleged suicide of an Amity University law student last year on the ground that someone in his family was studying in the varsity.

Justice G.S. Sistani, before whom the matter was listed for hearing, said he was recusing himself from the hearing as someone in his family was studying in the university and that the matter be heard by another bench. A bench of Justices G.S. Sistani and Vinod Goel had earlier expressed concern over the his precious life, just alleged suicide, saying it appeared that there was a communication gap between the student and the people close to him. It had said that it could not be “believed that a 20-yearold boy ends because he was allegedly not allowed to sit for his semester exam, due to shortfall in attendance”.

Sushant Rohilla, a third year law student, allegedly hanged himself at his home in Delhi on August 10, 2016 after the university was said to have barred him from sitting for his semester exams because he did not have the requisite attendance. He left behind a note saying he was a “failure and did not wish to live”. The Supreme Court had on September 5, 2016 , taken cognisance of a letter written by a friend of the deceased student, saying it would examine whether there was an “element of suspicion” that of incident could having taken place due to “harassment”. However, on March 6, the apex court had transferred the matter to the Delhi high court.