The Madras High Court today quashed the suspension of two PG girl students of Pondicherry University who made a police complaint of sexual harassment and ragging against senior students and lauded their resolve not to tender an unconditional apology as sought by the Vice-Chancellor for withdrawing the disciplinary action.
Allowing the petitions by the students, Justice V Ramasubramanian set aside the November 1, 2013 suspension order of the Vice-Chancellor, ordered a fresh inquiry by the Anti-Sexual Harassment Committee of the university into the girls' complaints and directed the university to pay Rs.20,000 as cost to each.
"The very fact that when all other students chose to tender unconditional apology and purchase peace, the petitioner girl students alone stood their ground and refused to tender unconditional apology as per the order of the appellate authority namely Vice Chancellor goes to show their courage of conviction and refusal to compromise at the cost of honour," the Judge said in his order.
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The Judge also directed the university to conduct special classes for the petitioners and allow them to take the examination that they were disallowed earlier citing lack of attendance. No facilities now availed by students shall be denied to the petitioner students, he said.
The girls, undergoing Post Graduate Courses in Mass Communication and English Literature respectively, had challenged their suspension for the even semester of 2013-14 and also another order dated December 19, 2013 by the Vice-Chancellor by which their suspension was revoked subject to their submitting an unconditional apology.
The petitioner had on September 30, 2013 lodged a complaint with the Vice-Chancellor, the Registrar and the Chairperson of the Anti-Ragging Cell complaining that two students of Physical Education department passed snide comments, used abusive words and threatened to assault and rape them.
On October 1, the two, along with some other students, had lodged a police complaint and the news about it was widely published by the media, which was viewed seriously by university authorities. They sought an apology from the students out of whom some of them submitted unconditional apology whereas the petitioner did not yield and fought the case legally.
Passing orders on their plea, the Judge, however, said he was not finding the contents of their complaints wholly true.
"What is laudable is that the petitioners have overcome the normal tendency and temptation of lesser mortals, especially girl students, whose whole career as well as life may be at stake, to surrender to the power of the authority," he said adding unless the petitioners felt genuinely offended this could not have been possible.
The Judge imposed the cost on the university in view of the fact that the handling of the students' complaints had made the remedy worse than the disease and added insult to injury.
