Saurabh Mukherjee
Tensions escalated at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) in Kolkata on Saturday (September 20) as students staged protests demanding the resignation of Vice-Chancellor Prof Nirmal Kanti Chakrabarti over allegations of financial mismanagement, misconduct, and sexual harassment.
The demonstrations followed a recent Supreme Court directive requiring the vice-chancellor to include in his resume details of “incidents of alleged sexual harassment.”
Students gheraoed the vice-chancellor on campus, insisting he step down. Demonstrators held up posters reading, “I do not accept this V-C…” and wrote “Remove V-C,” voicing their demands for immediate accountability and change in leadership.
The Student Juridical Association submitted a letter to the executive council, which includes sitting judges of the Supreme Court and Calcutta High Court along with senior government officials. The letter cited “loss of institutional reputation,” an “unsafe environment for female students, staff and faculty,” and “financial mismanagement and lack of transparency” as key reasons for demanding Chakrabarti’s resignation.
In their statement, the students said, “Our protest is not an isolated reaction to a single incident. It is a collective cry born out of months, even years of silence, frustration and disappointment. It is an action born out of desperation, post the grave allegations of sexual harassment levelled against the V-C, which has to be mandatorily included in his resume, as directed by the apex court, the glaring lack of financial transparency, and the systematic pattern of administrative failures, persistent apathy, and growing disconnect between the administration and its students and faculty members.”
They added, “We are united in our demand for accountability, justice, and the restoration of faith in the leadership of this institution. This is not a step we take lightly; NUJS is our home, and we speak up today because we care deeply about its future. We believe that the values of integrity, equality, and fairness that our university teaches must first be upheld within its own walls.”
The allegations against Chakrabarti date back to December 26, 2023, when a female faculty member filed a complaint of harassment. The local complaint committee for North 24-Parganas, constituted under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, rejected the complaint in March, citing the filing as time-barred. The alleged incident occurred in April 2023, with the complaint filed eight months later.
The complainant subsequently approached the Calcutta High Court. A single-judge bench quashed the committee’s order and ordered a rehearing on merit.
However, the High Court later reversed its decision, upholding the dismissal of the complaint. The matter then reached the Supreme Court, which, while dismissing the appeal, directed that the judgment be included in the vice-chancellor’s resume.
“It is advisable to forgive the wrongdoer, but not to forget the wrongdoing. The wrong which has been committed against the appellant may not be investigated on technical grounds, but it must not be forgotten. In this view of the matter, we direct that the incidents of alleged sexual harassment on part of respondent no.1 may be forgiven but allowed to haunt the wrongdoer forever. Thus, it is directed that this judgment shall be made part of the resume of respondent no.1, compliance of which shall be strictly ensured by him personally,” the bench of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Prasanna B Varale stated on September 12.
On Saturday, students staged protests in front of the executive council meeting on the NUJS campus, which was attended by Supreme Court Justice Dipankar Dutta and State Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya.
The demonstrations followed a recent Supreme Court directive requiring the vice-chancellor to include in his resume details of “incidents of alleged sexual harassment.”
Students gheraoed the vice-chancellor on campus, insisting he step down. Demonstrators held up posters reading, “I do not accept this V-C…” and wrote “Remove V-C,” voicing their demands for immediate accountability and change in leadership.
The Student Juridical Association submitted a letter to the executive council, which includes sitting judges of the Supreme Court and Calcutta High Court along with senior government officials. The letter cited “loss of institutional reputation,” an “unsafe environment for female students, staff and faculty,” and “financial mismanagement and lack of transparency” as key reasons for demanding Chakrabarti’s resignation.
In their statement, the students said, “Our protest is not an isolated reaction to a single incident. It is a collective cry born out of months, even years of silence, frustration and disappointment. It is an action born out of desperation, post the grave allegations of sexual harassment levelled against the V-C, which has to be mandatorily included in his resume, as directed by the apex court, the glaring lack of financial transparency, and the systematic pattern of administrative failures, persistent apathy, and growing disconnect between the administration and its students and faculty members.”
They added, “We are united in our demand for accountability, justice, and the restoration of faith in the leadership of this institution. This is not a step we take lightly; NUJS is our home, and we speak up today because we care deeply about its future. We believe that the values of integrity, equality, and fairness that our university teaches must first be upheld within its own walls.”
The allegations against Chakrabarti date back to December 26, 2023, when a female faculty member filed a complaint of harassment. The local complaint committee for North 24-Parganas, constituted under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, rejected the complaint in March, citing the filing as time-barred. The alleged incident occurred in April 2023, with the complaint filed eight months later.
The complainant subsequently approached the Calcutta High Court. A single-judge bench quashed the committee’s order and ordered a rehearing on merit.
However, the High Court later reversed its decision, upholding the dismissal of the complaint. The matter then reached the Supreme Court, which, while dismissing the appeal, directed that the judgment be included in the vice-chancellor’s resume.
“It is advisable to forgive the wrongdoer, but not to forget the wrongdoing. The wrong which has been committed against the appellant may not be investigated on technical grounds, but it must not be forgotten. In this view of the matter, we direct that the incidents of alleged sexual harassment on part of respondent no.1 may be forgiven but allowed to haunt the wrongdoer forever. Thus, it is directed that this judgment shall be made part of the resume of respondent no.1, compliance of which shall be strictly ensured by him personally,” the bench of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Prasanna B Varale stated on September 12.
On Saturday, students staged protests in front of the executive council meeting on the NUJS campus, which was attended by Supreme Court Justice Dipankar Dutta and State Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya.
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