[2026] 2 S.C.R. 402 : 2026 INSC 128 Amit Kumar & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors. (Interlocutory Application No. 25652 of 2026) In (Criminal Appeal No. 1425 of 2025) 06 February 2026 [J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan, JJ.] Issue for Consideration Interlocutory application was filed seeking direction as regards the appointment of Dr. T.C.A. Anant, former Chief Statistician of India, as Technical Consultant to the National Task Force for comprehensive and scientific analysis of the survey data and; direction to the Ministry of Education to extend all necessary administrative support, infrastructure, data access, and to provide appropriate remuneration/honorarium to Dr. Anant, as per prevalent norms or as may be fixed by the Court. Headnotes† Interlocutory Application – Interlocutory application filed for the appointment of Dr. T.C.A. Anant, former Chief Statistician of India, as Technical Consultant to the National Task Force for comprehensive and scientific analysis of the survey data and; direction to the Ministry of Education, Union of India, to extend all necessary administrative support, infrastructure, data access, and to provide appropriate remuneration/ honorarium to Dr. Anant, as per prevalent norms or as may be fixed by the Court:

Held: Dr. T.C.A. Anant, former Chief Statistician of India is appointed as Technical Consultant to the National Task Force for the purpose of comprehensive and scientific analysis of the survey data – Ministry of Education, Union of India shall pass an order of his appointment at the earliest – Ministry to extend all necessary administrative support, more particularly the infrastructure & data access and to provide appropriate remuneration/honorarium to Dr. Anant in accordance with prevalent norms. [Para 3] [2026] 2 S.C.R. 403 Amit Kumar & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors. List of Keywords National Task Force; National Task Force to address the mental health concerns of students and prevent the commission of suicides in Higher Educational Institutions; Technical Consultant to the National Task Force; Comprehensive and scientific analysis of the survey data; Direction to the Ministry of Education, Union of India, Administrative support; Data access; Appropriate remuneration/ honorarium. Case Arising From CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Interlocutory Application No. 25652 of 2026 in Criminal Appeal No. 1425 of 2025 From the Judgment and Order dated 30.01.2024 of the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi in WPCRL No. 2945 of 2023 Appearances for Parties Ms. Aparna Bhat Sr. Adv./Amicus Curiae. Advs. for the Appellant(s):

Mehmood Pracha, R. H. A. Sikander, Jatin Bhatt, Sanawar, Kshitij Singh, Ms. Nujhat Naseem, Sikander Raza, Faisal Mohammad, Kumail Abbas, Mayank Sapra, Ms. Karishma Maria, Ms. Lalima Das. Advs. for the Respondent(s): K.M. Nataraj, Brijender Chahar, A.S.G.s., Lokesh Sinhal, Sr. A.A.G., Shiv Mangal Sharma, Ms. Karishma Malani, Anil Shrivastav, Aman Panwar, A.A.G.s., Rudratiya Khare, D.A.G., Chitransh Sharma, Vatsal Joshi, Anuj Srinivas Udupa, Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Arvind Kumar Sharma, Ms. Mrinal Gopal Elker, Mukesh Kumar Maroria, Amit Sharma Ii, Mrs. Bani Dikshit, Varun Chugh, Gaurang Bhushan, Jagdish Chandra, Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, Ms. Neha Singh, Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, Amit Kumar Singh, Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Prang Newmai, Ms. Yanmi Phazang, Ms. Vidushi Bajpai, Samar Vijay Singh, Ms. Sabarni Som, Aman Dev Sharma, Nikunj Gupta, Sarthak Arya, Gaj Singh, Ms. Ishika Gupta, Vikramaditya Chauhan, Subrata Chakraborty, Sourabh Dahiya, Amith Krishnan H, Parmanand Gaur, Ms. Megha Gaur, Vibhav Mishra, Ms. Shalini Singh, Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, Gautam Singh, Parth Awasthi, Pashupathi Nath Razdan, Mahesh Agarwal, Rishi Agrawala, Ms. Madhavi Agarwal, Sanjeevi Seshadri, Akshay Agarwal, Manish Sharma, E. C. Agrawala, Akshay 404 [2026] 2 S.C.R. Supreme Court Reports

Amritanshu, Nikunj Gupta, Ms. Ishika Gupta, Sarthak Srivastava, Mayur Goyal, Sarthak Arya, Ms. Seema Sindhu, Abhay Nair, Ms. Harsh Rekha, Ms. Disha Singh, Ms. Eliza Bar, Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, Ms. Neha Singh, Sanchit Garga, Abhinav Kumar, Manav Kaushik, Kunal Rana, Shashwat Jaiswal, Bhanu Pratap Singh, Ms. Diksha Arora, Kaushal Gautam, Ms. Snehpreet Kaur, Prashant Alai, Kunal Mimani, Shrirang B. Varma, Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, Avijit Mani Tripathi, Upendra Mishra, P.S. Negi, T.K. Nayak, Ms. Marbiang Khongwir, Nishe Rajen Shonker, Mrs. Anu K Joy, Santhosh K, Alim Anvar, Mrs. Devika A.l., Ms. Shashi Bala, Praveen Chaudhary, Sanpreet Singh Ajmani, Amit Kumar, Ms. Amitoz Kaur, Ms. Shivani Agrahari, Mohit Kumar Gupta, Ms. Misha Rohatgi, Nakul Mohta, Amulya Upadhyay, Ayush Kashyap, Sameer Abhyankar, Aryan Srivastava, Krishna Rastogi, Sudarshan Lamba, Abhijeet Pandove, Amit Sharma B, Gaurang Bhushan, Ms. Bani Dikshit, Jagdish Chandra, Karan Chahar, Rajbahadur Yadav, Aor, Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, Karun Sharma, Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana. Judgment / Order of the Supreme Court Order 1. Heard Ms. Aparna Bhat, the learned Amicus Curiae and Mr. K.M. Nataraj, the learned Additional Solicitor General for the Union of India.

2. By this application the following has been prayed for:-“a) Direct the appointment of Dr. T.C.A. Anant, former Chief Statistician of India, as Technical Consultant to the National Task Force for comprehensive and scientific analysis of the survey data; b) Direct the Ministry of Education, Union of India, to extend all necessary administrative support, infrastructure, data access, and to provide appropriate remuneration / honorarium to Dr. Anant, as per prevalent norms or as may be fixed by this Hon’ble Court.” 3. We direct that :- (i) Dr. T.C.A. Anant, former Chief Statistician of India be appointed as Technical Consultant to the National Task Force for the [2026] 2 S.C.R. 405 Amit Kumar & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors. purpose of comprehensive and scientific analysis of the survey data. (ii) The Ministry of Education, Union of India shall pass an order of appointment of Dr. T.C.A. Anant at the earliest. (iii) We also direct the Ministry of Education, Union of India to extend all necessary administrative support, more particularly the infrastructure & data access and to provide appropriate remuneration/honorarium to Dr. Anant in accordance with prevalent norms. 4. With the aforesaid directions, this interlocutory application stands disposed of accordingly. Result of the case: Interlocutory application disposed of. †Headnotes prepared by: Divya Pandey

[2026] 2 S.C.R. 402 : 2026 INSC 128 Amit Kumar & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors. (Interlocutory Application No. 25652 of 2026) In (Criminal Appeal No. 1425 of 2025) 06 February 2026 [J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan, JJ.] Issue for Consideration Interlocutory application was filed seeking direction as regards the appointment of Dr. T.C.A. Anant, former Chief Statistician of India, as Technical Consultant to the National Task Force for comprehensive and scientific analysis of the survey data and; direction to the Ministry of Education to extend all necessary administrative support, infrastructure, data access, and to provide appropriate remuneration/honorarium to Dr. Anant, as per prevalent norms or as may be fixed by the Court. Headnotes† Interlocutory Application – Interlocutory application filed for the appointment of Dr. T.C.A. Anant, former Chief Statistician of India, as Technical Consultant to the National Task Force for comprehensive and scientific analysis of the survey data and; direction to the Ministry of Education, Union of India, to extend all necessary administrative support, infrastructure, data access, and to provide appropriate remuneration/ honorarium to Dr. Anant, as per prevalent norms or as may be fixed by the Court:

Held: Dr. T.C.A. Anant, former Chief Statistician of India is appointed as Technical Consultant to the National Task Force for the purpose of comprehensive and scientific analysis of the survey data – Ministry of Education, Union of India shall pass an order of his appointment at the earliest – Ministry to extend all necessary administrative support, more particularly the infrastructure & data access and to provide appropriate remuneration/honorarium to Dr. Anant in accordance with prevalent norms. [Para 3] [2026] 2 S.C.R. 403 Amit Kumar & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors. List of Keywords National Task Force; National Task Force to address the mental health concerns of students and prevent the commission of suicides in Higher Educational Institutions; Technical Consultant to the National Task Force; Comprehensive and scientific analysis of the survey data; Direction to the Ministry of Education, Union of India, Administrative support; Data access; Appropriate remuneration/ honorarium. Case Arising From CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Interlocutory Application No. 25652 of 2026 in Criminal Appeal No. 1425 of 2025 From the Judgment and Order dated 30.01.2024 of the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi in WPCRL No. 2945 of 2023 Appearances for Parties Ms. Aparna Bhat Sr. Adv./Amicus Curiae. Advs. for the Appellant(s):

Mehmood Pracha, R. H. A. Sikander, Jatin Bhatt, Sanawar, Kshitij Singh, Ms. Nujhat Naseem, Sikander Raza, Faisal Mohammad, Kumail Abbas, Mayank Sapra, Ms. Karishma Maria, Ms. Lalima Das. Advs. for the Respondent(s): K.M. Nataraj, Brijender Chahar, A.S.G.s., Lokesh Sinhal, Sr. A.A.G., Shiv Mangal Sharma, Ms. Karishma Malani, Anil Shrivastav, Aman Panwar, A.A.G.s., Rudratiya Khare, D.A.G., Chitransh Sharma, Vatsal Joshi, Anuj Srinivas Udupa, Ms. Ruchi Kohli, Arvind Kumar Sharma, Ms. Mrinal Gopal Elker, Mukesh Kumar Maroria, Amit Sharma Ii, Mrs. Bani Dikshit, Varun Chugh, Gaurang Bhushan, Jagdish Chandra, Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, Ms. Neha Singh, Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, Amit Kumar Singh, Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Prang Newmai, Ms. Yanmi Phazang, Ms. Vidushi Bajpai, Samar Vijay Singh, Ms. Sabarni Som, Aman Dev Sharma, Nikunj Gupta, Sarthak Arya, Gaj Singh, Ms. Ishika Gupta, Vikramaditya Chauhan, Subrata Chakraborty, Sourabh Dahiya, Amith Krishnan H, Parmanand Gaur, Ms. Megha Gaur, Vibhav Mishra, Ms. Shalini Singh, Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, Gautam Singh, Parth Awasthi, Pashupathi Nath Razdan, Mahesh Agarwal, Rishi Agrawala, Ms. Madhavi Agarwal, Sanjeevi Seshadri, Akshay Agarwal, Manish Sharma, E. C. Agrawala, Akshay 404 [2026] 2 S.C.R. Supreme Court Reports

Amritanshu, Nikunj Gupta, Ms. Ishika Gupta, Sarthak Srivastava, Mayur Goyal, Sarthak Arya, Ms. Seema Sindhu, Abhay Nair, Ms. Harsh Rekha, Ms. Disha Singh, Ms. Eliza Bar, Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, Ms. Neha Singh, Sanchit Garga, Abhinav Kumar, Manav Kaushik, Kunal Rana, Shashwat Jaiswal, Bhanu Pratap Singh, Ms. Diksha Arora, Kaushal Gautam, Ms. Snehpreet Kaur, Prashant Alai, Kunal Mimani, Shrirang B. Varma, Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, Avijit Mani Tripathi, Upendra Mishra, P.S. Negi, T.K. Nayak, Ms. Marbiang Khongwir, Nishe Rajen Shonker, Mrs. Anu K Joy, Santhosh K, Alim Anvar, Mrs. Devika A.l., Ms. Shashi Bala, Praveen Chaudhary, Sanpreet Singh Ajmani, Amit Kumar, Ms. Amitoz Kaur, Ms. Shivani Agrahari, Mohit Kumar Gupta, Ms. Misha Rohatgi, Nakul Mohta, Amulya Upadhyay, Ayush Kashyap, Sameer Abhyankar, Aryan Srivastava, Krishna Rastogi, Sudarshan Lamba, Abhijeet Pandove, Amit Sharma B, Gaurang Bhushan, Ms. Bani Dikshit, Jagdish Chandra, Karan Chahar, Rajbahadur Yadav, Aor, Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, Karun Sharma, Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana. Judgment / Order of the Supreme Court Order 1. Heard Ms. Aparna Bhat, the learned Amicus Curiae and Mr. K.M. Nataraj, the learned Additional Solicitor General for the Union of India.

2. By this application the following has been prayed for:-“a) Direct the appointment of Dr. T.C.A. Anant, former Chief Statistician of India, as Technical Consultant to the National Task Force for comprehensive and scientific analysis of the survey data; b) Direct the Ministry of Education, Union of India, to extend all necessary administrative support, infrastructure, data access, and to provide appropriate remuneration / honorarium to Dr. Anant, as per prevalent norms or as may be fixed by this Hon’ble Court.” 3. We direct that :- (i) Dr. T.C.A. Anant, former Chief Statistician of India be appointed as Technical Consultant to the National Task Force for the [2026] 2 S.C.R. 405 Amit Kumar & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors. purpose of comprehensive and scientific analysis of the survey data. (ii) The Ministry of Education, Union of India shall pass an order of appointment of Dr. T.C.A. Anant at the earliest. (iii) We also direct the Ministry of Education, Union of India to extend all necessary administrative support, more particularly the infrastructure & data access and to provide appropriate remuneration/honorarium to Dr. Anant in accordance with prevalent norms. 4. With the aforesaid directions, this interlocutory application stands disposed of accordingly. Result of the case: Interlocutory application disposed of. †Headnotes prepared by: Divya Pandey