Sexual Harassment

Amity University

Panvel

Dr Rakesh Singh

Dr Kuldeep Singh Panwar

While dean (academics) passed comments with sexual overtones and tried to make physical contact with an employee, the law department head targeted a student.Two senior professors of, were told to resign on Tuesday after an internal probe found them guilty of sexually harassing two women – one a student and the other an employee of the institute.The university’s Committee Against Sexual Harassment (CASH) instituted an inquiry against, dean (academics), and, head of the department (law), after the two filed the complaints in October. The inquiry report was submitted to vice chancellor Dr Vijay Khole last week and the action announced on Tuesday.There are serious allegations against both, said university officials. While Dr Singh allegedly made comments with sexual overtones and tried to make physical contact with the employee, Dr Panwar similarly targeted a student. Mumbai Mirror had reported about the harassment and Amity University’s probe against the two professors on December 21.The university’s registrar, Ravi Manuja, told Mirror that Dr Singh put in his papers on Tuesday, while Dr Panwar informed the university that he is “on leave”. However, the registrar said that the leave has not been sanctioned.“After being told that he has to resign, Dr Kuldeep Singh Panwar sent a message to the deputy director (law), informing him that he has taken leave. But his leave has not been sanctioned as the request has not come through a proper channel. He has to get approval from the vice chancellor or the registrar. He did not seek our permission,” Manuja said.Dr Panwar did not respond to calls and messages from this correspondent.When contacted, Dr Singh confirmed that he has been told to resign, but said he would do so “after seeking legal opinion”. But the registrar countered that he has already resigned.Dr Singh had earlier told Mirror that the allegations against him were baseless and he would approach court if the university took action against him. But Manuja ruled out such a possibility, saying, “Once he has put in his papers, he has no locus standi to go to the court against the university’s decision.”The complainants have been informed about the action taken against the professors.“In the past two months, the complainants and the accused were given enough chances to present their versions before the Committee against Sexual Harassment. After completion of all technical procedures, action has been initiated against them,” Manuja stressed.Vice chancellor Khole also confirmed action against the duo through the registrar.According to varsity officials, the two victims were traumatised by the accused’s behaviour. After their warnings to the accused went unheeded, they chose to formally lodge complaints with the university authorities. One of the complainants had even claimed that she was facing pressure from Dr Singh to leave the job and submitted her resignation, but the university did not accept it.“We have assured the victims that we have zero tolerance towards sexual harassment. The woman who resigned is still on our payroll. VC Khole has also spoken to her. She can resume work anytime,” Manuja reiterated.This is the first time since the university’s inception three years ago that sexual harassment complaints had been filed against any professor.While Dr Singh joined the university eight months ago, Dr Panwar had been serving there for the past two years.Asked whether they had conducted a background check on both the professors and if any such allegations had been made against them in the past, the registrar said, “We did not receive any complaint about their conduct from the institutions they had worked in before joining us. We have cleared our position and have asked them to leave from today itself.”