Congress MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam, who was sacked as a professor from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) over sexual harassment allegations, on Tuesday hit back at the university, insisting that its inquiry disregarded established rules and procedures and was essentially a political witch hunt.
Akoijam said he was preparing to challenge the dismissal in court.
The MP’s statement came even as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stepped up its campaign against him, organising protests outside Congress offices in Delhi and elsewhere. “The original complaint was submitted to the academic department regarding pedagogical matters, not to the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC). How did it suddenly become a case of sexual harassment under the POSH Act? “The matter concerns academic issues and pedagogy. How does that become a sexual harassment case? It simply does not stand. The university formed an internal complaints committee that same month to investigate the allegations.
Delhi Police also registered an FIR against Akoijam on October 11 following a complaint by the university’s chief security officer.
“Based on the findings, the IC recommended major punishment… upon following the due process and considering all available facts, the punishment of dismissal from the services of the university is hereby imposed on the professor with immediate effect,” the order signed by JNU vice-chancellor Santishree D Pandit said. Even the leaked allegations claiming ‘sex for marks’ do not exist in the actual complaint,” Akoijam said. They knew that, which is why they manipulated the entire process,” Akoijam said, further alleging that the complaint was not submitted to the university’s Internal Committee but to the department. On September 6, HT reported, citing a person closely aware of the development, that 11 university students filed complaints against the professor this May, accusing him of “sexual misconduct”. The professor was accused of making inappropriate remarks with sexual connotations during the viva examinations in the first week of May, according to the complaints.
On Tuesday, a group of BJP women MPs is also meeting President Droupadi Murmu to apprise her of the allegations against the MP and seek his dismissal. Akoijam was sacked on Friday after an inquiry by the varsity’s internal committee formed to investigate sexual harassment at the workplace.
