IISc asks senior faculty to go on 'compulsory retirement' found guilty of sexual misconduct

NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 31: Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru has asked one its senior faculty member to go on 'compulsory retirement', over sexual harassment allegations.

Prof Giridhar Madras has been asked to retire after the IISc Council looked into the allegations against him and found him guilty of sexual misconduct. The enquiry was conducted after a post-doctoral student working under him complained against Prof Madras.

Prof Madras has been associated with the IISc for over two decades and is presently working as a senior faculty at the Chemical Engineering Department.

He is counted among the top one per cent of all scientists in the world and has over 10,000 citations and an h-index of 55. Prof Giridhar Madras has been a recipient of some of the reputed national and international awards like the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award (2009), J C Bose National Fellowship, and the IISc award for excellence in research.

The Council comprising of the IISc Director, Prof Palle Rama Rao, former DBT secretary MK Bhan, Tata Sons’ JJ Irani, BJP MP Murli Manohar Joshi among other members, after looking into the allegations decided to sack Prof Madras despite his reputation and immense contributions to the field of science.

Careers360 tried reaching out to IISc Director Prof Anurag Kumar to get the official version of the information, but he did not respond to calls and messages. However, a senior faculty confirmed the news and said that the Prof Giridhar Madras has been forced to go on 'compulsory retirement' after IISc Council members found him guilty of sexual misconduct.

Reportedly, the PhD student in her complaint has alleged that the academic made sexually coloured remarks and also persisted with late night phone calls to her.