Mumbai, February 13: A former Bombay High Court judge has recommended that the Mumbai University should retire a professor for sexually harassing a girl student at the Kalina campus last year. Justice S M Daud, a retired Bombay High Court Judge appointed by the university last year to conduct an enquiry into the incident, observed that there was prima facie evidence to suggest that Marathi professor Arun Kamble had made a sexual advance towards a female MA student (name withheld).The enquiry followed a complaint filed by the student at the university and the police. Justice Daud's final report was recently submitted to the Management Council, the varsity's highest governing body.
University Registrar M S Kambli confirmed the report. ``Yes, Justice Daud's report states that there is prima facie evidence that Professor Kamble had made a sexual advance towards the girl student,'' he told Express Newsline.
However, Kambli added that the Management Council will give one more chance to the accusedprofessor (who is under suspension for over ten months now) to appear before the varsity panel and speak for himself.
Express Newsline had reported in April last year that the professor had sexually misbehaved with the postgraduate student of Marathi at his staff quarters in the Kalina campus. The girl had also filed a police complaint at Vakola, but Prof Kamble secured bail from the court.
According to the girl's complaint, in March last year Prof Kamble was on his way to the canteen at the Kalina campus, when he spotted the girl sitting along with her friends. The professor reportedly asked her why she had not been attending his lectures regularly and then told her to collect some academic notes from his residence in the campus. When the girl went to the professor's house, he reportedly made a sexual advance towards her. The frightened student ran out of the house and recounted the incident to a friend and her family. She then filed a police complaint on March 29, 1997. Prof Kamble, however, hadsteadfastly maintained that he was innocent and had also submitted written statements to this effect to the press last year.
When contacted, the Pro-Vice Chancellor Dr Naresh Chandra did not wish to comment on the matter till Monday, as he said that the contents of Justic Daud's report were confidential. Reportedly, when the victim lodged a police complaint against the professor, the deputy police commissioner of the zone Sanjay Barve had said that the Vakola police would arrest Kamble immediately. However, Kamble somehow managed to evade arrest for two to three days and directly went to the court to seek anticipatory bail.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
