Himachal Pradesh: Law college students name for motion towards college professor for sexual harassment

By ANI

SHIMLA [Himachal Pradesh]: Students of Himachal Pradesh National Law University (HPNLU) wrote a letter to the Vice Chancellor, alleging inaction by the college’s administration within the sexual harassment grievance filed by feminine college students towards considered one of their professors.

As many as 70 feminine college students of a number of batches in HPNLU filed a grievance on September 28, 2022, towards the professor, said the letter accessed by ANI.

The college students have additionally alleged that the chairperson of the Internal Complaint Committee, the committee accountable for dealing with the grievance above was modified abruptly and with out due discover quickly after the grievance had been filed.

Apart from the sexual harassment grievance, the scholars complained a couple of myriad of points like lack of fundamental facilities and financial fraud with the scholars, hampering the search for authorized information, and so on.

“A little while ago, namely on the date of 28th September 2022, over 70 female students of multiple batches in HPNLU lodged a formal complaint against one of the teaching staff, Aayush Raj, on the grounds of sexual harassment,” the letter additional mentioned.

“Students had experienced sexually coloured, misogynistic remarks at his hands which extended to misbehaviour in public. In regards to such a grave concern, that warranted immediate and strict action from the Vice Chancellor and other concerned authorities, all the relief provided to the victims was an email stating the accused would no longer be in academic control of the aggrieved batches,” the letter alleged.

The college students within the letter have alleged that the accused has all through been and continues to be supported by the involved authorities and is being shielded by them on such severe issues.

“The accused has remained unaffected and is in charge not only of teaching the victims but the setting and marking their exam sheets, which leads to trepidation in the minds of the victims who were failed by the administration in every manner possible in this situation,” the letter alleged.

The accused nonetheless brazenly accepts that he’ll nonetheless be in in-charge of taking assignments and displays which makes him accountable for educational actions from which he was barred, the letter additional alleged.

“To worsen the situation, the chairperson of the Internal Complaint Committee, the committee in charge of handling the aforementioned complaint was changed abruptly and without due notice soon after the complaint had been filed although it is against the rules of the ICC where it clearly states that a chairperson cannot be removed mid inquiry,” the letter alleged.

“This action seems motivated by bias and the need to protect the accused as the decision came on the heels of the complaint itself and never was reasonably justified. If the complainant will be awarded such an incompetent decision and the Chairman will be awarded such demotion then it would make registration of sexual harassment complaints much more inefficient and both the complainant and adjudicator will be scared of registering and resolving it respectively,” the letter mentioned.

The college students complained towards the Controller of Examination of the University Chanchal Kumar for conducting examinations throughout the interval of May-June, 2020 when the COVID-19 outbreak was at its peak and different points associated to mismanagement of the examination course of.

“One examination was in fact conducted during this period, for which a heavy majority of students of two batches did not appear out of terror for their lives given the graveness of the COVID-19 virus. This led to the exam being retaken, for which each student was charged an amount of Rs 1,000,” the scholars within the letter alleged.

The college students additionally demanded motion towards the psychological harassment of the scholars, arbitrary guidelines and rules, unaccounted-for monetary points, and lack of fundamental facilities for college students. 

SHIMLA [Himachal Pradesh]: Students of Himachal Pradesh National Law University (HPNLU) wrote a letter to the Vice Chancellor, alleging inaction by the college’s administration within the sexual harassment grievance filed by feminine college students towards considered one of their professors.

As many as 70 feminine college students of a number of batches in HPNLU filed a grievance on September 28, 2022, towards the professor, said the letter accessed by ANI.

The college students have additionally alleged that the chairperson of the Internal Complaint Committee, the committee accountable for dealing with the grievance above was modified abruptly and with out due discover quickly after the grievance had been filed.

Apart from the sexual harassment grievance, the scholars complained a couple of myriad of points like lack of fundamental facilities and financial fraud with the scholars, hampering the search for authorized information, and so on.

“A little while ago, namely on the date of 28th September 2022, over 70 female students of multiple batches in HPNLU lodged a formal complaint against one of the teaching staff, Aayush Raj, on the grounds of sexual harassment,” the letter additional mentioned.

“Students had experienced sexually coloured, misogynistic remarks at his hands which extended to misbehaviour in public. In regards to such a grave concern, that warranted immediate and strict action from the Vice Chancellor and other concerned authorities, all the relief provided to the victims was an email stating the accused would no longer be in academic control of the aggrieved batches,” the letter alleged.

The college students within the letter have alleged that the accused has all through been and continues to be supported by the involved authorities and is being shielded by them on such severe issues.

“The accused has remained unaffected and is in charge not only of teaching the victims but the setting and marking their exam sheets, which leads to trepidation in the minds of the victims who were failed by the administration in every manner possible in this situation,” the letter alleged.

The accused nonetheless brazenly accepts that he’ll nonetheless be in in-charge of taking assignments and displays which makes him accountable for educational actions from which he was barred, the letter additional alleged.

“To worsen the situation, the chairperson of the Internal Complaint Committee, the committee in charge of handling the aforementioned complaint was changed abruptly and without due notice soon after the complaint had been filed although it is against the rules of the ICC where it clearly states that a chairperson cannot be removed mid inquiry,” the letter alleged.

“This action seems motivated by bias and the need to protect the accused as the decision came on the heels of the complaint itself and never was reasonably justified. If the complainant will be awarded such an incompetent decision and the Chairman will be awarded such demotion then it would make registration of sexual harassment complaints much more inefficient and both the complainant and adjudicator will be scared of registering and resolving it respectively,” the letter mentioned.

The college students complained towards the Controller of Examination of the University Chanchal Kumar for conducting examinations throughout the interval of May-June, 2020 when the COVID-19 outbreak was at its peak and different points associated to mismanagement of the examination course of.

“One examination was in fact conducted during this period, for which a heavy majority of students of two batches did not appear out of terror for their lives given the graveness of the COVID-19 virus. This led to the exam being retaken, for which each student was charged an amount of Rs 1,000,” the scholars within the letter alleged.

The college students additionally demanded motion towards the psychological harassment of the scholars, arbitrary guidelines and rules, unaccounted-for monetary points, and lack of fundamental facilities for college students.