Confirming that a sexual harassment complaint filed by a faculty member against Dr. Nirmal Kanti Chakrabarti, who was appointed Vice-Chancellor of Kolkata’s West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS) in 2019, was time-barred, the Supreme Court said it should nevertheless “haunt” him forever.
Noting that a “wrong” may be forgiven but not forgotten, the court directed Mr. Chakrabarti to make its judgment, pronounced on Friday, a part of his resume personally.
In a novel approach, a Bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and P.B. Varale observed, “It is advisable to forgive the wrongdoer, but not to forget the wrongdoing.”
“The wrong which has been committed against the appellant [faculty member] may not be investigated on technical grounds, but it must not be forgotten,” Justice Mithal, who authored the verdict, wrote. The appellant was represented by senior advocate Meenakshi Arora and advocate Rishab Ahmed Chowdhury.
“In this view of the matter, we direct that the incidents of alleged sexual harassment on part of respondent no.1 [Chakrabarti] may be forgiven but allowed to haunt the wrongdoer forever. Thus, it is directed that this judgment shall be made part of the resume of respondent no.1, compliance of which shall be strictly ensured by him personally,” the court said.
