The Madras High Court on Friday permitted Kalakshetra Foundation’s suspended faculty member Hari Padman to withdraw his petition for bail in a sexual harassment case booked on the basis of a complaint filed in March this year by a former student of Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts run by the Foundation.
Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan accepted a request by counsel for the petitioner to withdraw the plea, just before he was about to retire to his chambers after completing his list for the day during the summer vacation sitting. Earlier in the day, the judge had heard the arguments and passed an order adjourning the matter to June 16.
Then, the judge decided to await the outcome of a writ petition filed by seven students of the Foundation seeking a proper mechanism to redress sexual harassment complaints. Since Justice M. Dhandapani had listed the writ petition for June 15, Justice Ilanthiraiyan decided to hear the bail plea on June 16.
To get today’s top stories from the State in your inbox, subscribe our Tamil Nadu Today newsletter here
The judge also noted that the Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women had filed an intervening petition and opposed grant of bail to the suspect. The Commission claimed that it had obtained statements from over 100 students and found a prima facie case of harassment.
During the hearing, counsel for the bail petitioner accused the Commission for Women of being a “corrupt organisation”. However, Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) A. Damodharan objected to the remarks made against the statutory body and insisted that counsel withdraw her statement.
The APP told the court that the issue came to light after the Facebook post of Kalakshetra Foundation’s former director Leela Samson in December 2022. Subsequently, the students of the fine arts college run by the Foundation protested against the management between March 29 and 31, 2023.
The State Commission for Women inquired into the incident, obtained statements from the students and submitted a report to the Chief Secretary stating that a prima facie case of sexual harassment of the students by some of the faculty members had been made out. Therefore, the APP, too, opposed the bail petition.
On the other hand, counsel for the bail petitioner told the court that the First Information Report (FIR) against him had been booked at the Adyar All Women Police Station in Chennai on the basis of a complaint filed by a former student who had discontinued a post-graduation course at the fine arts college in 2019.
Counsel said the complaint had been filed after a delay of three-and-a-half years and five other students who had studied along with the complainant during that period had categorically denied any sexual harassment by the petitioner. The court was told that the petitioner was under incarceration since April 3.
