Union HRD Ministry today issued a notification appointing Justice (retd) Ashok Kumar Roopanwal as a one-man judicial commission to look into the alleged suicide by dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad Central University.

The Commission will inquire into the facts and circumstances leading to the death of Vemula and fix responsibility for lapses, if any.

Following the protests from the leaders of various political parties including Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwasl, HRD Minister Smriti Irani dispatched a two-member committee to inquire into the happening on the campus. Based on the report submitted by the two-member committee, the HRD minister announced the appointment of one-man judicial commission. Today the union government has notified the commission.

As per the notification the commission will also review the existing grievance redress mechanism for students at the university and suggest improvements.

Vemula’s suicide on January 17 had triggered a massive outrage across the nation and opposition parties had launched a scathing attack on the government over the matter. All sides demanded the removal of Smriti Irani and labor minister Bandaru Dattatreya for the intereference in the university of affairs which, it is alleged, ultimately led to the suicide of Rohit.

The Commission shall carry out its inquiry and submit its report and recommendations to the central government within three months, the notification said.