NUJS students demand suspension of VC over teacher's sexual harassment allegations, write to CJI

New Delhi: Students of the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) have written a letter to Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, who is the chancellor of the university, demanding the suspension of the vice-chancellor of NUJS, NK Chakrabarti, who is currently facing allegations of sexual harassment from a female faculty member of the institution.

The letter written by the NUJS student body comes days before the university's executive council (EC) meeting on May 28, where the extension of Chakrabarti's tenure as VC is to be decided.

Last week, the Calcutta High Court had ordered a local committee (LC) to re-examine the sexual harassment charges leveled against the VC. Earlier, the committee constituted under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 had dismissed the complaint on grounds of limitation, saying the complaint was not filed within six months of the incident. harassment.

The letter written by the student association on May 26 condemns the Vice-Chancellor's “deliberate attempts to circumvent proper legal process by abusing his position of power.”

The letter adds that the alleged actions constitute blatant patriarchal exploitation and an attempt to undermine the professor's respect and dignity in her workplace.

“The alleged incidents between December 2023 and April 2023 concerned her harmful treatment in the workplace following the alleged acts of sexual harassment. The LC did not consider the actions of April 2023 as “sexual harassment”, and the petitioner was not allowed to be heard at the Executive Council (“EC”) meeting of 21.12.2023, even if, on a procedural level, he could not have ruled on the merits. at this point,” says the letter written by the student association.

“An arbitrary dismissal of the complainant’s allegations not only taints the principles historically upheld by NUJS, but also creates a dangerous institutional atmosphere and trust deficit for students, particularly victim-survivors of harassment,” the letter added.

The letter, signed by Indrayani Bhadra and Yastika Handa, president and vice-president of the NUJS Student Legal Association, accuses VC Chakrabarti of violating the code of ethics and staff conduct of the National University of Juridical Sciences of West Bengal (“MCC”), claiming that he “endeavored to misuse the power vested in him”.

“It is clear that the Vice Chancellor's actions in circumventing established procedures to quash the complaint against him, refusing to recuse himself from a meeting of the committee dealing with the allegations against him and making appointments without the approval of the EC constitutes a blatant violation of the MCC which cannot be sustained,” says the letter, a copy of which is with. Thread.

In its letter to the CJI, the student body made five demands, including: immediate steps to ensure that the complainant does not face further victimization or hostilities, immediate suspension of the VC and ban from participating in any function /responsibility until acquittal. , preventing the VC from influencing the course of any proceedings initiated against him, rejection of a commission of inquiry created by the VC against the complainant and refusal of an extension to the VC.

“We also wish to express our pain and disappointment with our institution for failing (the complainant) so enormously. We humbly request Your Lordship to take note of the allegations of sexual harassment and institutional marginalization as well as our just demands, which attempt to save not only the institutional reputation of NUJS but also the idea of ​​a safe space for all students, victims – survivors and those in vulnerable communities at our university,” the letter states.