The Karnataka High Court has quashed a First Information Report (FIR) accusing Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan and 17 others of practising caste-based discrimination against an assistant professor of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), who belongs to a Scheduled Caste.
In an order passed on Monday, April 16, Justice Hemant Chandangoudar quashed the FIR against a dozen teaching and non-teaching staff at IISc. These include Kris, chair of the governing council of IISc, Govidan Rangarajan, the director, Sridhar Warrier, registrar, Anil Kumar P, dean, and several other faculty members. Justice Chandangoudar called the complaint an “abuse of the process of law”, and said that he had given a “criminal colour” to a civil dispute.
D Sanna Durgappa, who taught at IISc, had filed a private complaint with a Bengaluru court, based on which the Sadashivanagar police registered a First Information Report (FIR) on January 27. Sanna Durgappa belongs to the Bhovi community (SC) and was a faculty member at the Centre for Sustainable Technology at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
Advocate SS Ramdas, who appeared for the petitioners, submitted that the dispute pertains to Sanna Durgappa’s termination from the institution. “… the private complaint was filed with the intention to exact vengeance, by giving a criminal color to the matter in order to pressure the petitioners to settle the dispute,” Justice Chandangoudar said.
The judge said that it was “clear” that the allegations made against the petitioners did not constitute offences under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Sanna Durgappa was terminated from service for sexual harassment after a departmental inquiry, which was later converted into resignation, the court noted. Sanna Durgappa challenged the termination in the HC in 2015 and the matter was settled after the two parties filed a joint memo. Sanna Durgappa was entitled to all benefits arising from resignation and agreed to withdraw all complaints before various authorities, the court said.
The court noted that Sanna Durgappa had filed two similar complaints after the settlement. The court then went on to call the private complaint an “abuse of the process of law” and said that it was “clearly a vexatious attempt to harass the petitioners for having terminated the complainant’s service”.
“Therefore, the dispute between the parties is essentially civil in nature, albeit presented with a criminal color,” the court said.
Durgappa had alleged in his complaint that his employment at IISc was terminated and false allegations of sexual harassment were foisted on him after he requested funding. He said that he was “forced to endure over nine years of unemployment.”
Durgappa, who holds a PhD in Zoology, was appointed as a lecturer at IISc on July 10, 2008, and was promoted to assistant professor on July 10, 2011. He had said in the complaint that he had made a representation under the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub Plan funds after being denied a separate laboratory and sitting area after reporting for duty.
