Madhya Pradesh High Court’s big decision: Former Vice Chancellor accused of sexual harassment

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has convicted former Vice Chancellor of Gwalior-based Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical Education (LNIPE) Dilip Dureh in a sexual harassment case and imposed a fine of Rs 35 lakh on him. In this case, the court has also imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on the Madhya Pradesh government and Rs 1 lakh on the institute. This case is related to tarnishing the reputation of a woman, and the court has expressed deep concern over it.

What is the matter – This case dates back to March 2019, when a female yoga teacher at LNIPE complained of sexual harassment against the then Vice Chancellor Dilip Dureh. The woman complained to the Gwalior Police and the Women’s Harassment Committee of the institute, but her matter was ignored. During the hearing, the court said that the Women’s Harassment Committee of the institute found the teacher’s complaint to be correct, but despite this no action was taken against Dureh.

Judge’s surprise – The bench of Justice Milind Ramesh Phadke expressed surprise that no action was taken against the accused even after the report of the internal committee came. The judge said that the reputation of a woman has been damaged in this case, and it is extremely serious.

Court’s decision – In the verdict given on July 15, the High Court imposed a fine of Rs 35 lakh on Dilip Dureh. Along with this, a fine of Rs 5 lakh was imposed on the state government and Rs 1 lakh on the institute. The judge directed that this amount be given to the victim woman within four weeks.

Police negligence – The court also said that the fine imposed on the state government will be recovered from the police officer who did not register an FIR even after receiving the complaint. This shows that the negligence of the police made the matter more complicated.

The female yoga teacher told that she was going to take the class at 7 am, when Dilip Dureh stopped her on the way and touched her with bad intentions. At that time, the woman got scared, but she tolerated that act. Later, when Dureha did the wrong thing again, the woman complained to the Women’s Harassment Committee. The woman filed a petition in the Supreme Court, on whose direction a case was registered against Dureha in Gwalior’s Gola Ka Mandir police station. After this, the case was heard continuously in the Gwalior bench of the High Court.