Rape, harassment allegations at GNLU: Gujarat High Court directs reconstitution of fact finding committee

The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday directed Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) to reconstitute the fact-finding committee formed to probe allegations of rape of one student and harassment of another student for being queer. [Suo Motu PIL v. Gujarat National Law University]..A Bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha Mayee noted that the fact-finding committee also featured Prof Anjani Singh Tomar, Chairperson of GNLU's Internal Complaints Committee (ICC).The committee led by retired IPS officer Keshav Kumar is yet to present its findings..The Court expressed concern that GNLU's investigation appeared to be an effort to sweep the issue under the rug and protect the institution's image rather than a thorough and transparent inquiry."The manner in which the inquiry is being done by the University seems to be an effort to cover up the whole issue, to save the image of the institution," the Court stated..The Court further observed that the affidavit filed by the University's Registrar seemed to be an over-anxious effort to suppress the matter by asserting that there appeared to be no substance in the allegations."The affidavit filed by the Registrar, GNLU seems to be an over-anxious effort to hush up the whole matter in a summary way, by stating that there does not appear to be any substance in the anonymous post posted on Instagram which was quoted in the news report of Ahmedabad Mirror dated 22.09.2023, suo motu cognisance of which has been taken by a Division Bench of this Court vide order dated 25.09.2023," the Court recorded in its order..The GNLU Registrar claimed to have received a message on WhatsApp from an Assistant Professor and the girls' hostel warden on September 19, 2023. Following the messages, he instructed both to submit a report.The warden, Dr Prabhavati Baskey, reported that after interviewing over 80 students, none had any information about the alleged incident. She had submitted her report on September 29.A similar report was obtained from Prof Tomar after the news report's publication, wherein she claimed that no students approached her regarding the Registrar's circulated emails.The Court found it unusual that the same individual who submitted the report in October was also a member of the fact-finding committee. As such, it asked the University to reconstitute the committee..The Court noted that following student protests, the ICC was reconstituted on September 26. In this light, it suggested that the functioning of the ICC prior to its reconstitution should be looked into.It also warned the Registrar to be careful in the future when submitting an affidavit before the High Court in the matter..Advocate General Kamal B Trivedi, appearing for GNLU, assured the Court that he would personally make an enquiry to ensure that the fact-finding committee constituted by the University would be reconstituted with independent members not related to the institution.The matter has been posted for further hearing on November 2..The allegations were initially reported anonymously on an Instagram page. A second-year law student from GNLU alleged that she was raped by her batchmate. Another student alleged that he has been facing harassment for being queer.These allegations were reported by the Ahmedabad Mirror on September 22.Based on the same, a Bench of Justices AS Supehia and MR Mengdey had initiated court proceedings on both issues and issued notice to the GNLU Registrar, who was asked to file a report on the matter.