Archive · 13 Sep 2026
IIT Mandi Probe Finds No Intent to Hurt Community
IIT Mandi investigated a poster shown during a student-organised Janmashtami event.
The event took place on September 4.
A photograph and video of the poster spread on social media.
This led to criticism and concerns that the poster was casteist.
The institute formed a three-member committee to examine the incident.
Six members of its Reservation Cell helped with the investigation.
The committee said it found no proof that anyone intended to insult or hurt a person or community.
It also said that a law protecting Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes did not apply to the case.
A three-member IIT Mandi committee investigated an alleged casteist poster shown during a campus Janmashtami programme.
A photograph and video of the poster circulated on social media after the September 4 event, prompting criticism.
The committee said it found no evidence of an intention to target, insult or hurt any individual or community.
Six members of IIT Mandi’s Reservation Cell assisted the committee during its proceedings.
The committee concluded that the case did not attract the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
- Who
- A three-member IIT Mandi inquiry committee, assisted by six Reservation Cell members, investigated the incident.
- What
- The committee examined an alleged casteist poster and found no evidence of an intention to target, insult or hurt any individual or community.
- When
- The poster was displayed on September 4; the committee was constituted on September 6 and submitted its report on Saturday.
- Where
- The alleged poster was displayed during a student-organised Janmashtami programme on the IIT Mandi campus.
- Why
- IIT Mandi Director Laxmikant Behera constituted the committee after the alleged poster incident and subsequent public criticism.
Allegation and Public Concern
Inquiry Committee Finding
Nature of the poster
Allegation and Public Concern
A photograph and video circulated on social media, leading to allegations that the poster displayed during the Janmashtami programme was controversial and casteist.
Inquiry Committee Finding
The committee found no evidence that the poster was intended to target, insult or hurt any individual or community.
Applicability of the SC/ST Act
Allegation and Public Concern
The alleged incident raised the question of whether the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, applied.
Inquiry Committee Finding
The committee concluded that the case did not attract provisions of the Act.
- Institution
- Indian Institute of Technology Mandi
- Event
- Student-organised Janmashtami programme
- Incident date
- September 4
- Inquiry committee
- Three members
- Assistance
- Six members of IIT Mandi’s Reservation Cell
- Finding
- No evidence of an intention to target, insult or hurt any individual or community
- Legal conclusion
- The committee said the case did not attract the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
- Report submitted to
- Director Laxmikant Behera
