Sexual harassment case against former PU V-C: Proceedings redundant, woman professor writes to probe panel

This was the second meeting of the panel after Dheera Khandelwal, additional chief secretary, environment, Haryana, was appointed its chairperson by the chancellor in January. She replaced Navraj Sandhu, who retired in November 2019

The woman professor who has accused former Panjab University vice-chancellor Arun Kumar Grover of sexual harassment has written to the independent internal committee (IIC), which is probing the allegations, stating that initiation of proceedings is redundant as he is no longer a varsity employee.

HT Image

The IIC, constituted by the PU senate and approved by the Vice-President of India (who is the chancellor), held a meeting on Tuesday to probe the 2015 matter, but the woman professor did not appear before it.

This was the second meeting of the panel after Dheera Khandelwal, additional chief secretary, environment, Haryana, was appointed its chairperson by the chancellor in January. She replaced Navraj Sandhu, who retired in November 2019.

In her letter, the woman professor has written that “initiation of further proceedings by the ICC would be redundant”, as there is no employee-employer relation between the former V-C and the university, and “suitable order may be issued qua the aspect of maintainability, as per the stand of the chancellor’s office”.

Grover was appointed the V-C in July 2012 and retired in July 2018. The alleged incident took place in 2015, following which the PU committee against sexual harassment (PUCASH) probed the matter.

In October last year, the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) had upheld PU’s decision to constitute an ICC to look into the allegations, after the woman professor raised objections to some names in the panel that were approved by the chancellor and approached court in September 2018.

Reacting to the latest development, Grover said: “If she has made such a claim, then it is just a way to stall the inquiry. She made no such mention while demanding a new panel before the HC in September 2018, even as I had retired in July 2018.”

The ICC has been given three months to submit its report to the chancellor’s office after Khandelwal’s appointment.