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PRAYAGRAJ: A teacher being in a consensual relationship with his student amounts to misconduct but not sexual harassment, Allahabad high court has ruled, setting aside a 19-year-old dismissal order of a lecturer of Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT), Prayagraj.Allowing a writ petition filed by the sacked lecturer, Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery, in his Dec 16 order, observed that while the petitioner may not have adhered to the high moral standards expected of a teacher, the extreme penalty of dismissal imposed on him in 2006 was shockingly disproportionate.The petitioner was appointed lecturer with the department of computer science and engineering in 1999. The institute took disciplinary action against him following a complaint lodged in 2003 by a former student, who had completed her master’s course in 2000. In her complaint, the student alleged emotional and physical harassment, and claimed that the lecturer had forced a physical relationship upon her during her student years. The complaint was filed three years after she left the institute and after the teacher’s engagement to another woman.A five-member committee constituted by MNNIT expressed reservations about adjudicating allegations of rape. Subsequently, a one-man inquiry commission headed by a retired judge was appointed. The petitioner admitted to having a relationship with the complainant, but maintained it was consensual and continued after she left the institute. On the basis of the report, the institute terminated his services on Feb 28, 2006.Challenging the termination, the lecturer contended that the disciplinary proceedings were vitiated by violation of principles of natural justice, particularly denial of the right to cross-examine witnesses. MNNIT authorities argued that a teacher occupies a position of trust and authority, and any intimate relationship with a student amounts to serious misconduct. The HC observed that the relationship appeared to be consensual and was not followed by any criminal action. It noted that the complaint appeared to have been triggered by the failure of a proposed marriage between the parties due to religious differences and parental opposition.
