The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday expressed its dismay at the “incidents of molestation, rape, discrimination, homophobia, favouritism, [and] suppression of voices” which have taken place at Gujarat National Law University (GNLU), Gandhinagar, according to a fact-finding committee’s report. It has directed that a competent authority must now consider the report.
The report, submitted in a sealed cover to the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha P. Mayee, was described by the court as “really scary”. The Bench is hearing a suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) based on a newspaper article dated September 22, 2023.
According to the newspaper, a male student of GNLU had suffered mental trauma due to the harassment meted out to him because of his queer identity, while a female student had accused a batchmate of raping her.
High-level pressure
The court had earlier directed the institute to reconstitute its fact-finding committee, set up to inquire into the alleged incidents. The new committee was headed by Justice (retd) Harsha Devani of the Gujarat High Court.
One of the victims categorically stated that “a politically influential person” was trying to see to it that no police complaint was made. The fact-finding report also mentions allegations against certain faculty members, the Registrar, and the Director of the institute, which needs a high-level inquiry, the Bench said.
An Instagram post about the alleged atrocities was forcibly removed through the intervention of GNLU and the faculty warden of the girls’ college, the court observed, noting that the institute had objected to the Instagram posts, which brought to light the ordeal faced by the two students, and had adopted an adversarial approach towards them.
Tarnished image
“That is the scariest part of the report. After parents, teachers and faculty in a residential college play the role of parents… They have taken the post as something meant to tarnish the image of the university,” the court said.
“It was so difficult for them [the students] to speak [to the committee members]. They are students of law, they are supposed to help others to hear their voices,” the court noted. “All these lectures, talks, seminars…everything goes to rubbish, it has no meaning at all,” it added.
A competent authority should consider the fact-finding report, the court said. It posted the matter to March 12 after directing the lawyer assisting the court as well as the lawyers representing the GNLU to determine this appropriate authority.
