As alumni of National Law School of India University, Bangalore (NLSIU), we wish to express our deep disappointment in how the administration has handled recent events relating to sexual assault by a member of the University and punished SHARIC facilitators for aiding the victim.  

It has come to our knowledge that NLSIU initiated disciplinary proceedings against two female student facilitators appointed under its Code to Combat Sexual Harassment (SHARIC), for narrating a particular survivor’s experience of sexual harassment by a current student of NLSIU. The narration took place over email, as well as on a private Facebook group with students from the University. The facilitators shared details regarding this instance of sexual harassment upon being requested to do so by the survivor in question. As this survivor was not a student at NLSIU, she was unable to share details regarding the instance of sexual harassment on these platforms, herself. Notably, the question of a confidentiality breach does not arise, as there were no ongoing proceedings under the SHARIC code.

For their act of sharing details regarding an instance of sexual harassment, NLSIU found the student facilitators guilty of “major misconduct” under its disciplinary rules (DARIC). As a penalty, it directed that they either issue a public apology or pay a significant monetary fine. The student facilitators decided not to apologise as that may have had the effect of stifling the voices of any peers who wished to share their own stories of sexual harassment or violence at the hands of other students in NLSIU. Instead, they chose to pay the monetary fine imposed upon them. They were also removed from all positions of responsibility, including  their positions as student facilitators under NLSIU’s SHARIC Code.

As alumni of NLSIU, we commend the courageous and principled stance taken by the student facilitators. Further, we unequivocally condemn NLSIU’s finding that the student facilitators are guilty of “major misconduct”. It has also come to our attention that the student facilitators have been barred from sharing the order of the DARIC committee, so we are unable to even peruse the logic and reasoning of the committee. This means that the proceedings are shrouded in secrecy, and the principles of natural justice are not being followed, which is deeply unfair.  

The University, much like the society it is a part of, has witnessed grave instances of sexual violence in the past. It is well known that victims of sexual harassment (who are most often women) find it difficult to speak about their experiences, or take formal or legal action against the perpetrator. NLSIU ought not to perpetuate those difficulties or prevent survivors from sharing their experiences with the NLSIU community. More importantly, NLSIU must not punish student facilitators acting at the request of, or on behalf of survivors of sexual harassment, as this amounts to “victimization” as per the definition in NLSIU’s own SHARIC Code. A decision such as the current one will undoubtedly have a chilling effect on the voices of other survivors, present and future, and signal to them that NLSIU wishes for them to remain silent in the face of sexual and gender-based violence.  

Further, we note that the #MeToo movement swept across the NLSIU campus in 2018, and dozens of victims of sexual harassment (who were largely women) shared their experiences over internal email, as well as on the same Facebook group where details regarding the present instance were posted. If NLSIU’s decision in the instant case were to be applied evenly, it is likely that those dozens of students would similarly be found guilty of “major misconduct” under the University’s rules. It bears emphasizing once again that no student ought to be punished for speaking about sexual harassment and violence, as well as those who perpetrate it.

NLSIU must not attempt to silence the voices of survivors of sexual harassment and those who stand in solidarity with them. Contrary to the current outcome, universities ought to encourage survivors to access redressal systems and provide them with any and all support required to do so. We emphasize that this is every university’s obligation under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 and NLSIU must make every effort to comply with the law, in both letter and spirit.

In light of the above, the undersigned concerned alumni call upon NLSIU to:  

1. Make the DARIC Committee’s order public, with redaction of names and other details where appropriate.
2. Reverse the finding that the student facilitators in question are guilty of “major misconduct”.
3. Reconsider its decision on survivors sharing personal accounts of sexual violence, the acts of which would themselves attract penalties under NLSIU’s Code to Combat Sexual Harassment.
4. Implement the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 in both letter and spirit.
5. Refrain from punishing and penalizing survivors of sexual harassment and those who stand by them.

Sincerely,

Leena Bhat, Batch of 1994
Prabha Kotiswaran, Batch of 1995
Suniti Gupta (Suniti Kaur), Batch of 1995
Murali, Batch of 1996
Sujata Saraf, Batch of 2000
Ravi Kumar, Batch of 2002
Ankit Kashyap, Batch of 2004
Sangeetha C.N, Batch of 2004
Sunil Kumar Mathangi, Batch of 2005
Vipul Nanda, Batch of 2005
Ramya Raghuram, Batch of 2007
Sidharth Chauhan, Batch of 2008
Parul Kumar, Batch of 2009
Rakshithaa Mahesh, Batch of 2009
Rohini Kharkar, Batch of 2009
Suchita Saigal, Batch of 2009
Asma Tajuddin, Batch of 2010
Aviroop Dutta, Batch of 2010
Nidhi Rani, Batch of 2010
Arjun Sheoran, Batch of 2011
Gautam Bhatia, Batch of 2011
Krishna Shorewala, Batch of 2011
Maanav Kumar, Batch of 2011
Sasha Mathew, Batch of 2011
Leeneshwari Makhijani, Batch of 2012
Rachita Nadig, Batch of 2012
Shreya Aren, Batch of 2012
Amlan Mohanty, Batch of 2013
Badri, Batch of 2013
Kaushalya Misra, Batch of 2013
Manish, Batch of 2013
Mihir Shukla, Batch of 2013
Raghav S, Batch of 2013
Abhinav, Batch of 2014
Archana, Batch of 2014
Jyoti Maheshwari, Batch of 2014
Megha Mathur, Batch of 2014
Rahul Unnikrishnan, Batch of 2014
Sakshi, Batch of 2014
Akanksha Prakash, Batch of 2015
Ameya Bokil, Batch of 2015
Bhoomija Verma, Batch of 2015
Jahnavi Sindhu, Batch of 2015
Manasa, Batch of 2015
Mriganki Nagpal, Batch of 2015
Praggya Surana, Batch of 2015
Pranjal Singh, Batch of 2015
Priyanka Madan, Batch of 2015
Shashank Reddy, Batch of 2015
Vansh Gupta, Batch of 2015
Aditya M, Batch of 2016
Ashwini Vaidialingam, Batch of 2016
Atulaa Krishnamurthy, Batch of 2016
Debanjana Mukherjee, Batch of 2016
Devarchan Banerjee, MPP Batch of 2016
Divij, Batch of 2016
Kaustav Saha, Batch of 2016
Nayan Banerjee, Batch of 2016
Nayantara Ravichandran, Batch of 2016
Parth Singh, Batch of 2016
Pranav, Batch of 2016
Radhika, Batch of 2016
Ravneet Riar, Batch of 2016
Rudrajit Ghosh, Batch of 2016
Saumya Maheshwari, Batch of 2016
Shimal Kapoor, Batch of 2016
Shivendu Pandey, Batch of 2016
Sidhanth Ramachandran, Batch of 2016
Subhankar Pasalapudi, Batch of 2016
Sharada Srinivasan, MPP Batch of 2016
Swati, Batch of 2016
Tanya Jain, Batch of 2016
Varun Sen Bahl, Batch of 2016
Aishwarya Gaur, Batch of 2017
Aman Shukla, Batch of 2017
Annie Jain, Batch of 2017
Chinmayi Krishnapur, Batch of 2017
Mathavi, Batch of 2017
Nupur Raut, Batch of 2017
Pallavi Panigrahi, Batch of 2017
Sakhi Shah, Batch of 2017
Surbhi Ajitsaria, Batch of 2017
Yashna Mehta, Batch of 2017
Aastha, MPP Batch of 2018
Aditi Bansod, Batch of 2018
Aditya Mehta, Batch of 2018
Adwiteeya, Batch of 2018
Aman Saxena, Batch of 2018
Ayushi Agarwal, Batch of 2018
Bhuvanyaa Vijay, Batch of 2018
Ipshita Bhuwania, Batch of 2018
Isha Jain, Batch of 2018
Malvika Kaushik, Batch of 2018
Mamidipudi Mukunda, Batch of 2018
Mathew Nevin Thomas, Batch of 2018
Ritwik Bhattacharya, Batch of 2018
Satya S. Sahu, Batch of 2018
Shambhavi Pandey, Batch of 2018
Shirin Silawat, Batch of 2018
Shreedhar Kale, Batch of 2018
Shriya Prasad, Batch of 2018
Shubham Jain, Batch of 2018
Varun Yadav, Batch of 2018
Aditya Karekatte, Batch of 2019
Aditya Wakhlu
Amati Akash, Batch of 2019
Amol Mehta, Batch of 2019
Ancha Venkata Samarth, Batch of 2019
Aniruddh Nigam, Batch of 2019
Aniruddha Majumdar, Batch of 2019
Anushka Bajpai, Batch of 2019
Ashwin Pantula, Batch of 2019
Bhavesh Seth, Batch of 2019
Bhavna Mishra, Batch of 2019
Carina Singh, Batch of 2019
Chandni Ochani, Batch of 2019
Darshna Rana, Batch of 2019
Himesh Dwivedi, Batch of 2019
Jashanjot Kaur, Batch of 2019
Jigyasa Dwivedi, Batch of 2019
Kosheel Gupta, Batch of 2019
Kshitij Sharma, Batch of 2019
Manisha Arya, Batch of 2019
Megha Mehta, Batch of 2019
Mukta Joshi, Batch of 2019
Palak, Batch of 2019
Pragya Kaushik, Batch of 2019
Radhika Goyal, Batch of 2019
Rickden Bhutia, Batch of 2019
Rishav Ambastha, Batch of 2019
Ritika Bansal, Batch of 2019
Sagarika Parab, Batch of 2019
Sanjana M, Batch of 2019
Shaileja Verma, Batch of 2019
Sharvari, Batch of 2019
Siddharth Aatreya, Batch of 2019
Siddhi, Batch of 2019
​​Simranjyot Kaur, Batch of 2019
Surbhi Shah, Batch of 2019
Tanvee Kanaujia, Batch of 2019
Tarini Maheshwari, Batch of 2019
Thejesh, Batch of 2019
Vani Sharma, Batch of 2019
Abhijit Dhole, Batch of 2020
Abhiroop Saha, Batch of 2020
Aditi, Batch of 2020
Aishwarya Jain, Batch of 2020
Anoushka Roy, MPP Batch of 2020
Apurva Singh, Batch of 2020
Dhanush, Batch of 2020
Hamza Tariq, Batch of 2020
Harjas Singh, Batch of 2020
Hrishika Jain, Batch of 2020
John, Batch of 2020
Kriti, Batch of 2020
Mansvini Jain, Batch of 2020
Mrinali Komandur, Batch of 2020
Neha Lodha, Batch of 2020
Rohit Patni, Batch of 2020
Sairam Kaushik, Batch of 2020
Spoorthi Cotha, Batch of 2020
Sushmita Som, Batch of 2020
Unnati Ghia, Batch of 2020
Anagha Sasidharan, Batch of 2021
Ashi Mehta, Batch of 2021
Atharv Gupta, Batch of 2021
Dharma Teja Numburi, Batch of 2021
Jamyang Lhamo, Batch of 2021
Jyotsna Vilva, Batch of 2021
Karan Dhalla, Batch of 2021
Madhunika V, Batch of 2021
Mayank Jain, Batch of 2021
Mehar Kaur, Batch of 2021
Shambhavi Shivdikar, Batch of 2021
Shreya Jaipuria, Batch of 2021
Shubhangi Maheshwari, Batch of 2021
Siddhi Gupta, Batch of 2021
Smriti Kalra, Batch of 2021
Tenzing Namgyal Bhutia, Batch of 2021

22 June 2022