The VC of the university said that the ICC did whatever was within its purview and that the alleged episode warranted police intervention
THE SAURASHTRA University (SU), on Wednesday, decided to refer to police the purported audio clip in which Professor Haresh Zala, the head of its sociology department, is allegedly heard demanding sexual favours from a student for enrolling her in a doctoral research project.
At its meeting held on Wednesday, the syndicate of the varsity decided to approach police with a complaint in the matter. “The syndicate, which is the highest decision-making body of the university, was of the view that the alleged audio clip has harmed the prestige of the SU. It doesn’t matter if the audio clip is of ‘x’ or of ‘y’ but it has harmed the image of the university. Therefore, we have decided that we shall lodge a police complaint and police may, as part of their investigation, like to ascertain the veracity of the clip by sending it for forensic analysis,” SU Vice-Chancellor Prof Nitin Pethani told The Indian Express after the meeting.
On January 23 and 24, local media outlets had reported that Prof Zala had allegedly demanded sexual favours from a student who was aspiring to enroll as a PhD research scholar with the SU’s sociology department. The Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of the SU had taken cognisance of the media reports and held a meeting. The same day, the SU had suspended Prof Zala.
The ICC held another meeting on January 31 and submitted its report to the syndicate on Monday. In the report, the ICC had noted that the student had in her ‘application’ stated that voices in the alleged audio clip were not of hers and Prof Zala’s. In his submission, Prof Zala also reportedly stated that the alleged audio clip was doctored. “The committee has no authority to proceed further as the alleged victim has not submitted any oral or written complaints with the committee,” SU had stated in a release on Monday.
The VC, however, said that the ICC did whatever was within its purview and that the alleged episode warranted police intervention. “According to UGC guidelines, a complainant is required to approach the ICC with a complaint but in the instant case, there was no formal complaint. So, the committee tried to ascertain facts neutrally and submitted its report. However, the syndicate was of the view that the matter should be referred to the police, that Prof Zala’s suspension should continue and that an inquiry be conducted by a committee headed by a retired judge,” Professor Pethani said.
Prof Zala is the third teacher of SU to be suspended in around a year over alleged sexual misconduct with students. The SU had suspended Professor Rakesh Joshi of the economics department for allegedly sexually harassing a PhD scholar who was conducting her research under his guidance. In June last year, the varsity had also dismissed Professor Nilesh Panchal after a one-member inquiry committee concluded that he had called a doctoral research scholar inside his chambers and touched her inappropriately.