New Delhi. June 17: The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has asked the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi to review its decision to expel 12 Scheduled Caste students who alleged caste-based discrimination by the institute.

IIT Delhi had failed to warn the students that they may be expelled and had never informed their parents, indicating “apathy” towards the SC students, NCSC chairman Buta Singh today said. Singh was speaking to reporters after a brief hearing at the NCSC headquarters where the students and the director and dean of IIT Delhi were present.

The NCSC, Singh said, had asked the IIT director, Surendra Prasad, to personally investigate the allegations.

“The IITs are guilty of not warning the students in advance about the implications of poor performance. The students should have been personally called. The institute also must have mechanisms to assist these students to improve,” Singh said.

Singh said he had also asked Prasad to ensure that officials involved in expelling the students in the first place were not involved in the review process.

Top IIT sources told The Telegraph that the institute would review all the cases, and would take back students if there had been a “genuine error on part of the IIT”.

Ravinder Kumar Ravi, the chief complainant in the case, said the students had ample “evidence” to “prove” the IIT had discriminated against them.

“Some of us have been referred to as sarkari jamai (in harsh terms, someone who has an exaggerated sense of entitlement from the government),” Ravi said.

Another of the students, Deepak Kumar — in second year civil engineering — said his marks had dipped the moment his course coordinator came to know he was an SC.

“At the end of the first term, the course coordinator came to know my caste name. My scores have taken a sharp dip from that point, and I fear my caste may be responsible,” Kumar said.