Kolkata (West Bengal): The iconic Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC) Director General Sahadeb Sarkar has been removed over allegations of sexual harassment. The IIMC has issued a notification in this regard.
According to the notification, a written complaint was recently lodged against him in IIM's Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) under the (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (“POSH Act”) for sexual harassment of a woman at workplace. The matter was referred to the Board of Governors.
Based on the written complaint, the ICC conducted an internal probe by talking to all the tenured professors and other staff during Sahadeb Sarkar's tenure. He was removed from the post based on an internal investigation.
The institute via a statement issued late on Tuesday evening said it initiated action against Sarkar following the recommendation of the ICC. It also said that allegations are being probed. Meanwhile, The IIM-C appointed the next in line senior-most faculty member, professor Saibal Chattopadhyay, as the director-in-charge with immediate effect.
“The Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of the institute has been in receipt of a written complaint under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act) against the then Director-in-Charge professor Sahadeb Sarkar. The ICC has ascertained that prima facie the complaint warrants a formal inquiry and communicated the same to the Board of Governors (BoG),” the statement from the institute read.
“IIM-C Board of Governors held a special meeting on 6 January 2024 and accepted the recommendation of the ICC that professor Sahadeb Sarkar shall not continue in the office of Director-in-Charge and shall be removed from the said post and any other position wherein he has administrative charges in IIM Calcutta, during the pendency of formal inquiry before the ICC and any proceedings arising therefrom or incidental thereto,” the statement further added.
By virtue of this, Sarkar has now become the third director to relinquish the IIM director position in three years well ahead of the expiry of their terms.
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