Orissa High Court: In a criminal writ petition by Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneswar (‘KIIT’) challenging National Human Rights Commission’s (‘NHRC’) order taking cognizance of the matter alleged suicidal death of a female under-graduate student from Nepal, the Single Judge Bench of Dr. SK Panigrahi, J. allowed the plea and granting interim relief to KIIT, stayed the impugned decision and all further proceedings against KIIT.
KIIT also impugned the direction for the constitution of Spot Inquiry Team in the said matter.
Background
On 16-02-2025, the deceased victim was found dead in her room. An FIR was promptly registered and upon conclusion of the preliminary inquiry, A was arrested on 17-02-2025 and remained in custody since that date. NHRC took cognizance of the matter and directed the Registrar to initiate an inquiry. A fact-finding Committee was also constituted comprising the Registrar (Law), NHRC; two Officers from the Investigation Division not below the rank of Senior Superintendent of Police; and one Officer or official from the Law Division. After the inquiry at the premises of KIIT, the impugned ex-parte order was passed.
In Amit Kumar v. Union of India, 2025 SCC OnLine SC 631, the Supreme Court took note of the said incident along with certain other similar incidents in the Colleges across India and formed National Task Force under the Chairmanship of Justice S. Ravindra Bhat, Former Judge, Supreme Court.
Analysis and Decision
“When orders are passed by quasi-judicial authorities, adherence to the principles of natural justice is not a mere formality but a foundational requirement. The absence of notice or the denial of an opportunity to be heard renders such exercise susceptible to challenge and vitiates the fairness of the process.”
The Court issued notice to NHRC, returnable on 26-04-2025. As an interim measure, the Court directed all further proceedings against KIIT to be stayed until the next date of hearing i.e., 29-04-2025. The Court also stayed the operation of the impugned decision.
[KIIT v. NHRC, 2025 SCC OnLine Ori 1074, decided on: 07-04-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For the petitioners: Mr. C.S. Vaidyanathan, Sr. Adv.; Mr. Prafulla Kumar Rath, Sr. Adv.; Mr. Shibashish Misra, Adv.
For respondent: Mr. Pravu Prasanna Behera, ASC
