GNLU grilled on ICC protocol for plaints

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court directed Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) to disclose the measures taken by its internal complaint committee (ICC) to ensure that sexual harassment complaints are filed without manual intervention. The bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha Mayee rebuked GNLU for its sluggish pace in telling what mechanism it has developed for the internal complaint committee. The court instructed GNLU’s competent officer to submit an affidavit outlining a smooth complaint filing mechanism without human intervention or “without any possibility of external pressure, keeping in mind that the perpetrators sometimes may also be part of the institution”. The judges explained, “For instance, a student wants to lodge a complaint against a professor who is infuential. The complaint will never reach the ICC. How will the ICC ensure that every complaint reaches it without any intervention?” The HC insisted on the information after GNLU’s counsel sought time to submit an inquiry report on complaints of harassment and rape expressed on a social media platform by GNLU students. The court took suo motu cognizance of the issue and questioned the university.Amicus curiae Krina Calla submitted that besides the investigation into the GNLU incident, the PIL seeks corrective measures for all education institutions.
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