Jawaharlal Nehru University here has decided to suspend a teacher of the School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies for one year on charges of sexual harassment. The charges were levelled by a former student of the Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies.
Ganga Sahay Meena, assistant professor at the Centre of Indian Languages, will also be disallowed from holding any administrative post for the next 15 years and his three increments will be withheld.
The decision against Mr. Meena was taken at the JNU Executive Council (EC) meeting on Monday. However, the decision will be applicable only when the EC minutes are approved.
The girl is not on JNU rolls at present. Interestingly, this July the administration had declared that the JNU campus would be out of bounds for her after she along with some friends allegedly threatened Mr. Meena and “bashed him up.”
Mr. Meena, who maintained he had not heard of any such decision till Tuesday evening, said he would move the High Court if such a “negative and biased” verdict had been given against him.
“The Gender Sensitisation Committee against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) which was investigating the girl’s complaint found the faculty member guilty and recommended his suspension for a year. The EC, however, took a serious view of the case as it involved a teacher and a student and increased the quantum of punishment,” said an EC member.
Another member added: “The punishment was given because he apparently treated the girl badly and also misrepresented the facts before the GSCASH. However, he still has the right to appeal to Vice-Chancellor B. B. Bhattacharya against the decision.”
Claims and counter-claims have been going on since last year when Mr. Meena first approached the administration complaining against the girl’s “aggressive behaviour.”
“We are from the same State and knew each other much before we came to JNU. We were friends but she had suicidal behaviour and I thought it was best to discontinue our friendship when she started attacking me. The GSCASH decided to set up an inquiry committee against me, but till today I have never got a copy of the complaint against me,” said Mr. Meena on Tuesday.
According to the teacher, he and the girl had even decided to bury their differences in December 2008 and even withdrew the complaint. “But she publicly attacked me again in April this year. I wrote to the administration seeking protection. If the administration had earlier notified that the campus will be out of bounds for her because of her behaviour, why is it punishing me now? Why such contradictory decisions?” asked Mr. Meena, alleging that the committee was “always biased” against him.
Meanwhile, welcoming the EC decision, the Students’ Federation of India has demanded that the administration withdraw the out-of-bounds order issued against the girl.
