Vice Chancellor Prof Nirmal Kanti Chakrabarti of the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) walked out of the University Salt Lake Campus Sunday morning after being gheraoed by the students for the entire night.
The students have been demanding the resignation of Chakrabarti amid allegations of financial mismanagement, misconduct and sexual harassment.
Before the V-C left the campus, students handed over a letter outlining their demands. According to one student, the gherao continued until 3 am, after which there was a brief break. From 4 am onward, students and faculty members celebrated Mahalaya, a festival celebrated a week before Durga Puja.
While the protest has concluded for now, the students will determine their next steps later. The protests came nearly a week after the Supreme Court, while dismissing an appeal made by the complainant, a faculty member of the law university, said that the judgment should be made part of the resume of the V-C.
In a statement given to The Indian Express, Prof Chakrabarti said, “The complaint under POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act) ihad been dismissed by the local committee on the grounds of limitation. The Division Bench of Calcutta High Court has also upheld the decision of the LC. The Hon’ble Supreme Court has also upheld the decision of the Division bench of Calcutta High Court.”
“The complaint against me is false, vexatious, and vindictive. Even the Hon’ble Supreme Court has observed in para 30 that the complaint was filed in retaliation on 26.12.2023, immediately after the Executive Council meeting on 21.12.2023, which had resolved to inquire into diverse acts of misconduct on part of the complainant.”
He further stated, “However, certain observations are made by the Hon’ble Supreme Court without any inquiry on merits, without testing of evidence, and without an opportunity of hearing. So, our legal team is availing legal remedies as are available to us under the law. The judicial remedies are under process. I have utmost respect for the Hon’ble Supreme Court and I’m confident that the truth shall ultimately triumph. Hence, students’ demand for resignation due to court remarks is unjust.”
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The complaint by a faculty member alleged harassment between 2019 and April 2023. After an internal complaints committee initially rejected it due to the statutory three-month filing limit, the complainant moved the Calcutta High Court, and the matter later reached the Supreme Court.
Last year, a single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court directed the internal complaints committee to re-examine the complaint lodged by the faculty member. Later, in December last year, on appeal, the high court reversed its decision, upholding the dismissal of the sexual harassment complaint as it was not filed within the statutory three-month time limit.
On Saturday, an executive council meeting was held on the law university campus. During the meeting, several students staged a protest in front of Supreme Court Justice Dipankar Dutta and State Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya. The students held up posters which read, ‘I do not accept this V-C…’ and wrote ‘Remove V-C’.
‘United in demand for accountability, justice, and restoration of faith’
The students,in a statement Saturday,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.”
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The statement 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.”
