'Student Will Be Heard First': IIT Bombay Draft Rules On Cheating In Exam

The Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay) has prepared a draft to change the rules for dealing with cases of cheating and the use of unfair means during examinations, following the death of student Sahil Wakode.

Under the proposed rules, students caught allegedly using unfair means will not face immediate disciplinary action. The student's explanation will first be heard, after which a decision on disciplinary action will be taken.

Under the existing system, the process for disciplinary action begins when the use of unfair means is detected during an examination. The new draft proposes a clearer procedure, including a more explicit opportunity for students to present their side.

The proposed changes come amid questions surrounding examination and disciplinary procedures at IIT Bombay following Wakode's death.

The death by suicide of the 22-year-old student last month had sparked massive protests on the campus. Wakode was found dead in his hostel room on the IIT Bombay campus hours after he was caught using a mobile phone and ChatGPT during a mid-semester examination.

The IIT Bombay Faculty Forum had expressed solidarity with exam invigilator Suryanarayana Doolla, pointing out that he was following institutional protocol after discovering the student was in "unauthorised possession and use of a smartphone."

CCTV footage from the examination hall showed Wakode being pulled aside by the invigilator. Wearing a black t-shirt, Wakode was seen seated in a front-row seat when Doolla stopped by and spoke to him. The student got up and handed over his mobile phone to the invigilator, CCTV footage showed.

The conversation between Wakode and Doolla continued for some time before he started gathering his belongings and left the examination hall.

The protesters and the student's family, however, had alleged Wakode was subjected to institutional harassment and caste-based discrimination on campus, due to which he died by suicide.

Initial investigation had found no concrete evidence to link the professor in the abetment to suicide case on the campus. No conclusion has been reached, however, on the allegations, and investigators are still examining all available evidence, sources had said.