The Supreme Court on Friday (September 12, 2025) dismissed the allegation of sexual harassment against Nirmal Kanti Chakraborty, the Vice Chancellor of the National University of Zuridical Sciences (NUJS) of West Bengal, but the court also said that such acts can be “forgiven, they will always be associated with the guilty”. Therefore, the court gave the decision that this order should be included in the resume of the Vice Chancellor and it should be fully ensured.

Case dismissed due to delay of complaint
The court also said that the victim had filed a formal complaint on December 26, 2023, while sexual harassment was done in April 2019. The Local Grievance Committee (LCC) dismissed it as a “deadline”. The reason was that the complainant had crossed both the boundary of three months and the extend limit of six months.

What is the charge against the Vice Chancellor
The victim said that Vice Chancellor Chakraborty took over the post of VC in the university in July 2019. Two months later, on September 8, he called the woman to her office and asked her to go to dinner, which could have her personal benefits. He touched the woman’s hand, which made her very uncomfortable. The woman quietly left. In October 2019, the Vice Chancellor again called him to his office and asked about the proposal to go to dinner. The victim flatly refused and said to maintain a professional relationship. After this, the Vice Chancellor demanded and threatened to have sex.

Apart from stopping promotion, more threats were given
The promotion of the victim was stopped in October 2019, which eventually approved by the Executive Council on 2 April 2022. In April 2023, the VC asked the victim to walk along the resort, which the woman refused. He then threatened that the woman’s career would be ruined. On 29 August 2023, the woman was removed from the post of Director from the Center of Financial, Regulatory and Governance Studies (CFRGS).

At the same time, investigation was also started against the victim on the misuse of grant from the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the issue of National Foundation of Corporate Governance (NFCG). The Executive Council ordered an immediate withdrawal of Rs 1 lakh from NUJS. The victim complained of harassment and revenge to the Executive Council and Chancellor through e-mail.

The Supreme Court said that removing the post of director would not come in the noun of sexual harassment as it was based on the independent report of NFCG. This work will not be considered associated with previous accused incidents.

Supreme Court Judge Justice K.K. Vinod Chandran on Monday (August 18, 2025) separated himself from hearing a petition challenging the appointment of Professor Naima Khatoon as the Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). The apex court was told that Khatoon became VC by getting important votes of her husband, who was the Vice Chancellor (VC) of AMU at that time. The petitioner called the husband voting in favor of his wife as a conflict of interest.

Chief Justice BR Gawai and Justice Chandran and Justice N.V. Anjaria’s bench is hearing an appeal filed against the order of Allahabad High Court on behalf of Muzaffar Uruz Rabbani in which Khatoon’s appointment was upheld. Khatoon is the first woman to hold this post in the history of the institute. During the proceedings, Justice Chandran offered to separate himself from the case citing his previous role as a Chancellor in a similar selection process.

Faizan Mustafa selected
Justice Chandran said that when I selected Faizan Mustafa. At that time I was the Chancellor of Consortium (CNLU) of National Law University, so I can separate myself from the hearing. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that we (Justice Chandran) have full faith. There is no need to separate from the hearing. You can decide. The Chief Justice said, “Let my brother (Justice Chandran) decide. List the matter before the bench, whose part is not Justice Chandran. Now this petition will be heard before the second bench. Initially on behalf of the petitioner, senior advocate Kapil Sibal questioned the validity of the selection process. ”

This method of appointing the Vice Chancellors
This is the way to appoint vice -chancellors, so I tremble only thinking what will happen in the future. He said that the results were affected due to two important votes, one of which was also of the outgoing Vice Chancellor. Sibal said, “If those two votes are left, they would have got only 6 votes. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati opposed this argument and emphasized the historical nature of Khatoon’s appointment. He argued that this is partly selection and partially choice. The High Court may not agree with our election logic, but it upheld his appointment. He said that the petitioner did not challenge the relevant appointments like Provost (equivalent of Dean).

Vice Chancellor should avoid participating in the voting process
However, the Chief Justice said that in an ideal situation, the Vice Chancellor should have avoided participating in the voting process. He also said, “Even in the decisions of the collegium, if such a situation arises, we separate ourselves (from the process).

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