BENGALURU: The alumni of National Law School of India University (NLSIU) have criticised the institute for taking action against two members of its sexual harassment inquiry committee. The two are said to have shared with other students of the varsity the ordeal of a survivor in a sexual harassment case.
The said case involved a student from another law college complaining of physical and sexual harassment by a current student at NLSIU. The survivor had called out the name of the accused in a tweet in April. According to the alumni’s open letter to NLSIU, two student facilitators under the Sexual Harassment Inquiry Committee (SHARIC) narrated the details of the incident in an email and in a private FB group to students of the university. The boy’s identity was revealed in the process.
“As the survivor was not a student at NLSIU, she was unable to share details regarding the instance of sexual harassment on these platforms herself. Notably, the question of confidentiality breach does not arise as there were no ongoing proceedings under SHARIC code,” said the letter signed by around 200 alumni.
The statement said the university found “a major misconduct under the disciplinary rules (DARIC)” for sharing the details. The students were asked to either apologise or pay a fine, of which they chose the latter. Asking the varsity to reverse its decision, the alumni said: “A decision such as the current one will undoubtedly have a chilling effect on the voices of other survivors, present and future...”
University’s reaction
According to NLSIU, the accused student filed a complaint under the university’s IT policies, which was referred to the DARIC (Disciplinary Matters Advisory Review and Investigation Committee).
“DARIC conducted an inquiry and issued a report, concluding that the conduct of the facilitators was inconsistent with the principle of fairness, the right to privacy, and the duty to avoid harm to members of the NLSIU community. The student facilitators were found to have violated part II (a) (1) of the Principles of Conduct, 2002, which states any conduct that causes serious physical or emotional harm to any person...is considered as major misconduct; and NLSIU IT Policies, 2020, for violating the right to privacy of the complainant and disclosing sensitive personal information; for causing harassment to the complainant; and for sending an unauthorised email,” said NLSIU.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
