HC issues notice to IIM chief over sacking of woman professor

The MP High Court here today issued notices to the Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Indore's Board Chairman and the Institute's Director over termination of services of a woman Assistant Professor in an alleged sexual harassment case.
The notices were issued by the bench of Justice Prakash Shrivastava on the petition filed by the sacked 36-year-old Assistant Professor.
The single-judge bench also gave relief to the woman professor by staying the order of the IIM-I management directing her to vacate her official residence situated in the institute premises.
The petitioner has challenged the legality of her termination order issued by the IIM-I Director N Ravichandran on April 28.

The woman professor alleged that she was sacked as she showed courage to file a complaint against a senior professor charging him of sexual harassment.
The petitioner alleged that the institute director was shielding the accused professor.

She has also raised legal questions on the April 24 report of the Institute's Gender Sensitivity Committee and urged the court to cancel it.
According to sources, the nine-member committee after going through the evidence concluded that the charges of sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination were not true.
The termination notice was served to the woman professor four days after the release of the committee's report.

The woman professor had filed a complaint with the Gender Sensitivity Committee in February alleging that her senior professor was sexually harassing her.