K. Abraham Mathew, J.

Petition filed under Section 438 Cr.P.C.

2. The petitioner is the Acting Chairman and Managing Trustee of the Nehru College of Educational and Charitable Trust which has in its ownership and administration 19 education institutions situated in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, one of them being Nehru College of Engineering and Research Centre situated at Pampadi in Thrissur District. One Jishnu Pranoy was a first year student in that college. On 06.01.2017 he appeared for the semester examination conducted from 2 pm and 5 pm. At about 4.30 pm he along with another student by name Jishnu Raj was caught for alleged malpractice. At about 6.30 pm Jishnu Pranoy committed suicide in his room in the men's hostel attached to the college. The local police registered Crime No. 19/2017 under Section 174 Cr.P.C. The First Information Statement given by one of the students revealed that there was harassment and mental torture by the Vice Principal, the Invigilator and other officers of the college in connection with the allegation of malpractice, which was the reason for Jishnu Pranoy's committing suicide. Later, the government constituted a Special Investigation Team to investi