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Madras Christian College - female students sexually harassed
In the month of April 2019 two professors of the Madras Christian College were believed to be have sexually harassed the students of their college. The incident took place on an educational tour to Bengaluru, Mysuru and Coorg which was organized in January 2019. Out of the 50 students that went on the trip 36 girls had made serious allegations against these professors.
The Madras Christian College instituted a Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to investigate the matter. On April 24th the ICC submitted its findings in the form of a report . The report found both the professors to be guilty of all the allegations put against them and stated their being responsible for creating a hostile work environment. It further mentioned that the report is being forwarded to the Principal of the College to take further steps.
Asst. Prof Samuel Tennyson moved to the Madras High Court challenging the order of the ICC. He prayed before the Madras HC to quash both the report of the ICC and the consequential show cause notice issued to him on May 24th 2019. He was aggrieved by the decision of the ICC and stated that the principles of natural justice were harmed by the ICC during these proceedings.
He claimed that in order to properly defend himself he required certain documents which were necessary to support his case, but the college authorities denied him access to the same. Hence, causing a violation to the principles of natural justice. However, the college authorities were of the opinion that Tennyson was given enough opportunities to represent and to defend himself. This also included an opportunity to cross examine.
To this concern of Tennyson the Madras HC held that there has been no breach in the principles of natural justice since, he was given sufficient chance to defend himself. The court further held that they find no abnormality in the report of the ICC. The procedure followed by the ICC is correct and not erroneous as claimed by the petitioner. Hence, there is no reason as to why this court should quash the findings of the ICC and overturn the show-cause notice issued against Tennyson.
While deciding the matter Hon’ble Mr. Justice Vaidyanathan of the Madras High Court had some serious concerns regarding the safety of the students in the Christian Educational Institutions. He was of the opinion that the parents of the girl students are concerned about the safety of their children because of such instances.
Further Justice Vaidyanathan urged the government to change the laws in the country. He said that it is about time that the government makes laws to protect the masculinity of the men in the country. There are many women centric laws which provide protection to them. But these laws have now become a base for frivolous and false allegations which often result in harassment to the men of the society.
He further said that laws against dowry such as section -498A have been declared as ‘legal terrorism’ by the Supreme Court itself. These laws are very powerful in nature and the cases under them are often led by the desire of the women to teach the men a lesson, which is unjust for the men in India. Hence, the government should amend these laws in order to ensure the protection of both the parties.
