Bengaluru: Senior IISc Professor Forced To Take Compulsory Retirement In Wake Of Sexual Harassment Allegation

Prof. Giridhar Madras of the chemical engineering department of Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru has been sent on compulsory retirement by the management after being accused of sexual harassment by a PhD student, Deccan Herald has reported.

The disciplinary action against the accused professor was recommended by the governing council of the institute. So far, he has served for two decades before being sent on compulsory retirement. The student had accused Madras of “sexually coloured remarks” and harassing her by making calls at late in the night.

The disciplinary body took action citing Rule 11 mentioned in the Central Civil Services Classification Control and Appeal Rules. The rule applies to employees of IISc. Apart from the above rule, IISc has a policy on sexual harassment where it does not tolerate any form of harassment and has vowed to take all required measures to make sure that women on the campus do not face any harassment.

Prof. Madras had recently received the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, IISc Award for Excellence in Teaching and Research and is a J.C. Bose National Fellow.