DARAKSHAN S A SHAIKH Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Rule. Respondents waive service. By consent Rule made returnable forthwith. Heard learned counsel for the parties.

(2.) Vide order dated 5th June 2007, the petitioner was transferred from Ismail Yusuf College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Jogeshwari, Mumbai to Elphinston College, Mumbai. Feeling aggrieved by this order the petitioner has filed the present petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying that the said order of transfer be quashed and set aside, with a further prayer that the report/resolution passed by the respondents in sexual harassment complaint be called for and direction may be issued to the respondents to take stringent action against two Professors i.e. Mr. S.K. Tripathi and Mr. B.B. Rajeshaikh. Further prayer of the petitioner is that the respondents be directed to follow the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of Vishaka and ors vs State of Rajasthan, and ors 1997(6) SCC 241.

(3.) The facts giving rise to this petition are that the petitioner is a lady Professor and was working in the Ismail Yusuf College of Arts, Science, Commerce-respondent No. 2 herein as head of the statistics department from 27th April 2005. The respondent No. 1 controls the affairs of the college of respondent No. 2 and this college has about l00 staff. The petitioner was initially appointed on temporary basis and was regularized subsequently. Due to promotion of the petitioner as head of the department, number of staff members were not happy and some of the staff members started harassing the petitioner since March 2006. Prof. Deepak Dubey, who had just completed 3 months and was assessing S.Y. B.Sc Physics ATKT papers, made a complaint that the petitioner was pressurizing to increase marks of 2 students bearing roll Nos 8109 and 8110. This complaint was submitted on 22nd March 2006. The petitioner denied the allegations. A Committee was constituted, which submitted its report on 27th November 2006 stating that it was personal enmity between two Professors, whereafter the above mentioned two professors started harassing the petitioner and started using derogatory remarks against her. The petitioner made a complaint to the authorities in regard to the derogatory and undesirable language being used by the two professors against her. The complaint is at Exh C to the petition. No action was taken despite this. The petitioner also made a complaint to the Human Grievance Cell on l6th October 2006. Thereafter she received a letter dated 10th January 2007 wherein she was called for hearing in respect of her complaint of sexual harassment. The Grievance Cell submitted its report and the petitioner was informed that two staff members have been found guilty of sexual harassment and the report was being submitted to the appropriate authority. The petitioner did not know what happened to the said two persons who were found guilty of the allegations made by the petitioner. She wrote various letters but of no effect and she was told that the matter was confidential and after the vacation when she joined the college on 9th June, 2007, she was shocked to receive a letter of transfer dated 5th June 2007 along with a circular dated 31st May 2007.