High Court stays Panjab University’s decision to cancel scholar’s enrolment in PhD course

THE PANJAB University’s decision to suspend a scholar’s enrolment in a PhD course for making a sexual harassment complaint against a varsity official’s son has come under judicial scrutiny as the Punjab and Haryana High Court has stayed the cancellation order. The High Court has also raised a major legal question over the Vice-Chancellor’s decision in the case. “The issue in this case would be as to whether, firstly, a complaint would lie by the petitioner to the Vice-Chancellor, with regard to alleged sexual harassment by a person who is not an employee of the university,” the High Court has said while issuing notices to the PU V-C, the university Syndicate, Panjab University Committe Against Sexual Harrasment (PUCASH), DSW (women), her son – who is accused in the case, and one syndicate member.

“Secondly, whether such complaint was referable to the local police or to the Internal Complaints Committee of the university and lastly, based on the aforesaid two questions, whether the committee could have given a report exonerating the respondent, i.e. the alleged perpetrator of the offence, on the strength of which the enrollment of the petitioner for a PhD degree could have been cancelled by the Senate on the recommendation of the Vice-Chancellor,” the High Court added in the order dated October 31.

The 27-year-old student had been conducting research on a gender violence-related subject for the past four years in PU but on June 14, the PU Deputy Registrar had intimated her that her PhD thesis has been cancelled for registering a “false complaint of sexual harassment”. While driving a Scooty, on January 7, she was allegedly hit by the car driven by the DSW (Women)’s son. He had been chasing her and had also allegedly “sexually abused her by passing lewd comments” against her.

After a complaint to the PU V-C, the issue had been referred to the PUCASH which declared the complaint as an “afterthought” and said it is “false and malicious”. It had said the student never mentioned the contents of alleged lewd remarks before the committee and the FIR in the case also does not mention anything about the alleged sexual harassment.

While citing the screenshots of messages between DSW (Women), the mother of the accused and the student, the committee had observed that “no complainant of sexual harassment will communicate in such a manner with the mother of the respondent against whom she has lodged complaint of molestation or sexual harassment”.

The student earlier had told Chandigarh Newsline that she had not appeared before the Committee after the V-C declared her complaint false even before the completion of the investigation and also “pressurized” her guide to disown her. According to the PUCASH report, her allegation that VC had declared her complaint false in a Senate meeting was “found to be true” after looking into videos of the Senate proceedings.

The criminal case on the matter is also pending in the High Court before a different bench. The case is slated for hearing on November 15.