Professor Suryanarayana Doolla, an electrical engineering academic at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, has come under scrutiny after the institute suspended his deanship amid a controversy surrounding the death of a second-year BTech student.
Doolla was the instructor and examination invigilator involved in the incident that preceded the student’s death.
IIT Bombay on Monday suspended Doolla’s deanship with immediate effect. The action came as the institute also withdrew earlier characterisations of the circumstances surrounding the death and apologised for making assertions before the investigation had established the facts.
Who Is Professor Suryanarayana Doolla?
According to his LinkedIn profile, Doolla is a power systems and power electronics researcher who has spent
more than 17 years at IIT Bombay.
His academic work focuses on areas including smart grids, microgrids, power-system control and the integration of distributed energy resources.
His current research interests, as listed on his profile, include Smart Grids and Microgrids, Converter Topologies and Control, Communication Protocols for Power Systems, Grid Integration of Distributed Energy Resources, and Power Systems Operation and Control.
His profile describes his academic background as being rooted in power electronics and power systems.
17 Years At IIT Bombay
Doolla joined IIT Bombay as an Assistant Professor in September 2009 and held that position until March 2015. He was subsequently an Associate Professor from March 2015 to July 2019.
Since July 2019, he has been a full-time Professor at IIT Bombay, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He also served as the institute’s Dean of Student Affairs from March 2023 to July 2026. In July 2026, he took over as Dean of Administrative Affairs, a position his profile lists as continuing at present.
This places Doolla in a senior administrative and academic position at the institute, in addition to his teaching and research responsibilities.
Academic And Professional Background
Before joining IIT Bombay, Doolla worked at Power Research and Development Consultants Pvt Ltd in a power-system consulting role between January and September 2009.
Before that, his LinkedIn profile lists him as an Architect at Machine 2 Machine between August 2006 and October 2008. He also worked as a Lecturer at CRR College of Engineering, Eluru, in 2002-03.
Doolla’s academic qualifications are also in the power and energy systems domain. He completed his PhD in Power Systems from IIT Delhi between 2004 and 2006. Before that, he earned an M.Tech in Energy Systems & Engineering from IIT Bombay between 2000 and 2002.
He completed his B.Tech in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Acharya Nagarjuna University between 1996 and 2000.
Why Is Doolla At The Centre Of The Controversy?
Doolla became central to the controversy because he was the course instructor and invigilator during a mid-semester examination in which, according to an IIT Bombay Faculty Forum statement cited by ANI, he observed a student using a smartphone without authorisation.
The Faculty Forum said Doolla was invigilating the examination from 11 am to 1 pm on September 18 and, after observing what it described as academic malpractice, reported the incident to institute authorities in accordance with institutional procedure.
The forum subsequently expressed solidarity with Doolla, saying he had been discharging his duties under the institute’s Senate-approved academic policies.
IIT Bombay’s earlier statement had said the student allegedly used a mobile phone during the examination and uploaded the question paper to ChatGPT to seek answers.
The institute later apologised for setting out those details before they had been established through the appropriate investigative process.
Professor Named In Police Case
The controversy escalated after the student’s parents filed a police complaint alleging harassment and caste-based discrimination.
An FIR was registered naming Doolla as an accused, with allegations including that he had used casteist slurs against the student over a period of three months.
The case was transferred to the Mumbai Police Crime Branch. The allegations against Doolla are part of the ongoing investigation and have not been established as facts.
The development came alongside campus protests and growing demands for accountability from the institute. IIT Bombay subsequently suspended Doolla’s deanship while also retracting its earlier characterisation of events.
