“The inquiry is underway in this case. The statements of nearly a dozen people working at NIOS have been recorded, and Sharma is being questioned today (Wednesday). She was abroad when the incident happened and has now returned,” a Delhi Police officer told ThePrint, requesting anonymity.
ThePrint reached out to Saroj Sharma but she declined to comment.
Earlier this month, the police wrote to the secretary of the school education and literacy department, informing him about the case lodged against Saroj Sharma at the Samaypur Badli police station. The police registered the case against Sharma hours after Kumar’s suicide on 28 September, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Samaypur Badli) Rishi Kumar wrote in the 3 October note.
Sharma, who took over as the NIOS chief in December 2020, was appointed as the IITE vice-chancellor on 5 September but is yet to take charge. The institute was established in 2010 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat. Its annual reports describe the IITE as the “brainchild” of Modi.
IITE, which has Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat as its chancellor, comes under the state government and was established to create a trained teachers’ workforce.
NIOS, a national board at par with the CBSE or the CISCE, is the largest open schooling system globally, with a cumulative enrollment of over 40 lakh in the last five years.
While Saroj Sharma’s tenure as NIOS chief has been largely uneventful, she came under the police lens following the death by suicide of her staff driver, as reported by ThePrint on 30 September. Notably, she is known to have stressed the need to incorporate elements of the ancient Indian knowledge system in the school curriculum on multiple occasions.
In the 3 October note to the secretary of the school education and literacy department, the Delhi Police wrote that it, during its inquiry, came to notice that Kumar left a suicide note “accusing harassment by Sharma including caste-based discrimination and his transfer to Bangalore as the reason for suicide”.
“According to the contents of the statement of Avi Pawar (son of deceased Ram Kumar) a case FIR No. 863/2024, dated 28/09/2024, u/s 108 BNS and 3(2)(v)/3(2)(vii) SC/ST (POA) Act 1989 has been registered at PS Samaypur Badli, Delhi against Mrs. Saroj Sharma (present Chairman of NIOS) and further investigation is in progress. The copy of FIR is attached for your kind perusal please. This is for your kind information and necessary action,” the police note added.
Kumar, in his complaint to the secretary of the school education and literacy department, accused Sharma of insulting him over his caste and “illegally and arbitrarily” transferring him to the NIOS regional centre in Bengaluru from its Noida headquarters. The education ministry forwarded the complaint to the NIOS on 24 September, three days before Kumar’s suicide.
In a separate letter to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, Kumar alleged that Sharma hurled casteist abuses at him. “She told me that I belong to a low caste and was not qualified to talk to her. I will show you the status of your caste.” He also accused her of misusing her official car by forcing him to falsify records in the logbook.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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