The Karnataka High Court has overturned a directive from a state Legislative Assembly panel that ordered the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, to reinstate a former assistant professor dismissed following sexual harassment allegations.
In an order dated June 22, Justice M G S Kamal ruled that the legislative committee lacked the jurisdiction and legal authority to intervene in a matter that had already reached a final legal resolution through a court of law. The court set aside the directive, declaring it arbitrary and devoid of statutory backing.
The legal challenge was initiated by the IISc and its director, Anurag Kumar, who petitioned the High Court to invalidate an October 6, 2017, communication from the Assembly’s Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Welfare Committee. The communication had directed the institute to reinstate Dr. D Sanna Durgappa, a former assistant professor at the facility.
Origins Of The Dispute
The dispute dates back to September 25, 2014, when a sexual harassment complaint was filed against Durgappa before the IISc’s Sexual Harassment Complaint Committee. Following an investigation, the committee recommended Durgappa’s removal in a report submitted five days later. The governing council of the IISc subsequently requested a response from Durgappa, accepted the committee’s findings, and officially dismissed him on April 28, 2015.
Durgappa challenged his dismissal in the High Court while simultaneously filing harassment complaints with the additional director-general of police at the Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement and the Karnataka State SC/ST Commission.
Later in 2015, the parties entered into a court-monitored settlement. Under this agreement, Durgappa’s termination was converted into a voluntary resignation, and he received his terminal benefits in exchange for withdrawing all pending complaints. Although Durgappa approached the High Court four months later to cancel the settlement, the court rejected his request.
Assembly Committee Intervention
In 2017, without contesting the court-approved settlement itself, Durgappa filed an application with the state Assembly’s SC/ST Welfare Committee. The committee issued a notice directing the IISc to submit a reply and appear before it. However, the committee ordered Durgappa’s reinstatement without evaluating the written response provided by the institute.
Representing the IISc, advocate S R Kamalacharan argued that Durgappa’s move was not about unpaid benefits but was instead an attempt to assert his innocence regarding the sexual harassment allegations, which had already reached a final legal conclusion.
The High Court agreed with the petitioners, noting that the committee’s reinstatement directive made no reference to any prior court orders or specific legislative provisions empowering the assembly panel to issue such an order. Consequently, the court ruled the directive invalid due to a total lack of jurisdiction.
Dismissal Of Harassment Complaints
Alongside his reinstatement efforts, Durgappa filed three complaints accusing Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, who chairs the IISc’s governing council, along with 15 other senior faculty members and officials, of caste-based harassment.
In 2025, the High Court rejected the third complaint, stating that the allegations did not constitute offenses under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The court characterized the complaints as a vexatious attempt to harass the officials and an abuse of the judicial process, concluding that the underlying issue was fundamentally civil but had been framed as a criminal case.
