“IN THIS VIEW OF THE MATTER, we direct that the incidents of alleged sexual harassment on part of Respondent No. 1 may be forgiven but allowed to haunt the wrongdoer forever” - these were the observations of a Supreme Court bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and P.B. Varale last week in a case where serious sexual harassment allegations were raised by a faculty member against N.K. Chakrabarti, the vice chancellor of National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata.
Even as the order noted that the complaint was time barred, as per the limitation period and the extended period, in a remarkable initiative, the top Court had directed that “the judgment shall be made part of the resume of the [vice chancellor], compliance of which shall be strictly ensured by him personally.”
Last year, first a single judge bench of the Calcutta High Court had directed the local committee of North 24 Parganas to re-examine the complaint lodged by the faculty member against Chakrabarti’s removal. Thereafter in December 2024, on appeal, the High Court had reversed its decision, upholding the dismissal of the sexual harassment complaint.
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