JNU Harassment Row: Services couldn't have been terminated without notice, Delhi HC on Akoijam's plea

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has said the JNU administration could not have imposed a "drastic" and "major" penalty of dismissal from service on professor Angomcha Bimol Akoijam over allegations of sexual harassment without a show-cause notice and a hearing. The court's observation came in the order staying Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration's decision to terminate the services of the professor at the School of Social Sciences. Even as the JNU counsel argued that Akoijam's dismissal was not governed by the procedure laid down in the JNU Act, but by UGC regulations on the prevention and redressal of sexual harassment in higher educational institutions, the court granted interim relief to the professor, also a Congress MP from Inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat.

"This court is of the prima facie view that regardless of what other ancillary regulations may provide, it is difficult to accept, at least at this stage, that the drastic and severe 'major' penalty of dismissal from service could have been imposed upon the petitioner without issuing to him a show cause notice and without granting to him a personal hearing in relation to the penalty proposed to be imposed," said Justice Anup J Bhambhani. The court gave the interim relief to Akoijam on November 2. 

The order was subsequently uploaded on the court's website. "The effect and operation of order dated 09.10.2026 and all actions taken by respondent No. 1 university pursuant to that order, shall remain stayed till the next date of hearing before this court," the court ordered, while listing the matter on January 25.

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11 students filed sexual harassment complaints

According to reports, at least 11 female students filed sexual harassment complaints against the professor in May. The complainants alleged that Akoijam invited students to his campus residence under the pretext of meetings or gatherings and attempted to sexually harass them. Some students have also alleged that he made obscene and inappropriate remarks during classes. On October 9, the JNU dismissed Akoijam over the sexual harassment complaints. Challenging the termination order, Akoijam's counsel argued that an enquiry was conducted against him by the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) on purported complaints of sexual harassment not by any aggrieved party but by certain other students.

The ICC's October 9 report shows that the student representative even refused to sign it, it was alleged. The counsel contended that the drastic action of dismissal from service was an evident violation of the JNU Act, as the petitioner was neither placed under suspension nor was he granted any opportunity to show cause against the penalty. The JNU administration's conduct suffers from serious mala fides, and action against the petitioner was taken purely as a measure of vindictiveness, he added. The counsel for JNU disputed the claim that the complaints against the petitioner were not made by the aggrieved parties themselves.

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JNU submitted that as per the University Grants Commission (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal of Sexual Harassment of Women Employees and Students in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2015, a notice before termination of services was not required. Issuing notice on Akoijam's petition, the court asked the varsity to file its response within six weeks. Days after his dismissal, Delhi Police registered an FIR against Akoijam on charges of sexual harassment and insulting a woman's modesty. The FIR was registered on a complaint lodged by the university's chief security officer on October 11. The FIR was registered at the Vasant Kunj North police station on Sunday under sections 75, 75(1)(i), 75(1)(iv) and 79 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deal with sexual harassment and acts intended to insult the modesty of a woman, among other offences. An investigation has been taken up, police said.