Centre refuses to make public Vemula's death probe report

The panel report had absolved the Hyderabad University of all blames, attributing Vemula's death to personal reasons

The Centre has declined to make public a panel's report on the death of research scholar, Rohith Vemula, a student at the Hyderabad University.

Replying to an RTI query, it said that the file concerned is "under submission" and a copy of the report cannot be provided.

"The file concerned is under submission. Therefore, a copy of the report cannot be provided at this point of time," Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry said in reply to an RTI query filed by the Press Trust of India (PTI).

According to PTI, the ministry did not cite any provision of the Right to Information (RTI) Act in declining the information. A government department is expected to mention relevant provisions of the RTI Act, under which information is being withheld.

The HRD Ministry had, in February, appointed a Commission of Inquiry under Justice Ashok Kumar Roopanwal, a retired official, look into the events at the university that culminated in the death of Vemula.

It was also tasked with reviewing the existing grievance redressal mechanism for students at the university and to suggest improvements. The Commission was asked to submit its report within three months.

According to media reports,  the panel has raised questions on Vemula's Dalit status in the report,  besides attributing his suicide to personal reasons.

University authorities have been absolved of any blame for his death as the Commission has held that they were not working under political pressure, the reports said.

Vemula's suicide had triggered a huge political furore with the then HRD Minister, Smriti Irani, coming under attack along with Labour Minister, Bandaru Dattatreya, for having written a letter related to the matter.

The Commission in its report is understood to have emphasised upon proper grievance redressal mechanisms and equal opportunity cells so that unfortunate incidents like Vemula's suicide can be prevented.