A student is caught with a phone in an examination hall while the paper is still unfinished. At IIT Bombay, the answer to what should happen next has been rewritten since July.
This October, the institute’s Senate has paused its harshest penalties and backed a procedure that lets the student finish the paper, hear their side later, and have a counsellor waiting outside.
What prompted the review
The review began with a death. Sahil Ravindra Wakode, a second-year BTech student in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering, died by suicide on 18 September, hours after he was allegedly caught using a mobile phone and ChatGPT during a mid-semester exam, Business Standard reported.
His parents say he faced caste-based discrimination.
Campus protests followed, and the institute formed an eight-member committee of four faculty members and four students to examine how it handles academic misconduct. It presented an interim report to a special Senate meeting on 7 October, according to India Today.
Protesting students had demanded changes to the institute’s disciplinary and student-welfare systems, so the review looked at how an allegation is recorded, who decides the outcome and what support a student receives in the hours that follow.
What happens now to a student caught cheating
Under the interim procedure, the invigilator confiscates the unauthorised material and records the incident on a prescribed form. The student then continues the exam with a fresh answer booklet.
The invigilator’s role ends at documentation, so the decision on what the incident means passes to the Departmental Disciplinary Action Committee (DDAC) instead of being made in the hall.
Under the interim protocol, students caught with unauthorised material can finish their exam using a fresh answer booklet. Photograph: (Swarajya)
After the paper, students can record their own version of events, submitted separately in the presence of additional staff. Business Standard adds that filling in this form is not compulsory, so a student may explain or decline.
The recommendations also say the institute’s Quick Response Team (QRT) of counsellors should be alerted when the student leaves the hall, which means nobody walks out alone straight after such an incident.
The step addresses the stress a student may carry out of the hall after being accused. The Times of India reports that faculty who suspect cheating or notice signs of exam stress must alert the QRT.
Why the stricter rules are on hold
The Senate has temporarily set aside the rules introduced in July 2026 and returned to its April 2015 framework for the mid-semester exams held on 10 and 11 October, which had been postponed from 19 and 20 September.
The July framework covered mobile phones, tablets and smartwatches, and it attached an FR2 grade, a special penalty grade for malpractice, to students found using unfair means.
The gap between the two is wide. Under the July rules, carrying a phone into an exam could bring an FR (fail and repeat) grade and a semester’s suspension. Under the 2015 framework, carrying a phone attracts a one-grade reduction, while using one can result in an FR grade.
The revised procedure allows students to record their version of events separately, giving them an opportunity to explain their side of the incident. Photograph: (TNIE)
The 2015 rules reserved suspension mainly for mass copying, repeat violations and impersonation, and the benefit of the doubt went to the student when evidence was unclear. A faculty member who attended the Senate meeting told Hindustan Times, “The emotion has shifted towards being sensitive to students. We are largely going back to the 2015 rules.”
What comes next for student wellbeing
The recommendations are interim. Senate members broadly agreed with the report but suggested changes, and a final set of guidelines will follow, India Today reported.
The report also proposes CCTV monitoring of exam halls, one student at a time for bio-breaks, entry closing 30 minutes after the exam begins, and an end to routine physical frisking. A joint committee with equal faculty and student representation is separately drafting standard operating procedures that would let accused students consult mentors and wellness advisers before formal disciplinary action begins.
Other campuses are already trying gentler doors into support, from peer counselling at IIT Madras to informal Listening Circles, and the QRT alert places IIT Bombay in that conversation. Students who need to speak to someone at any hour can call the government’s Tele-MANAS helpline on 14416, which is free and available in English and 20 regional languages.
The service, launched in October 2022, had received over 10 lakh calls by 29 May 2024, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and its counsellors can refer callers to a specialist if needed.
