The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has asked a senior faculty member, who was facing several allegations of sexual harassment, to go on 'compulsory retirement'.
The professor, Giridhar Madras, a senior faculty of the Chemical Engineering Department was found to be guilty by a council that investigated a sexual harassment complaint against him.
The recipient of several awards, Giridhar was a noted chemical engineer and had over 10,000 citations to his name. He has been part of the IISc for two decades.
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Elsevier Illustration/ The Wire
“A complaint was received from a Ph.D student about sexual harassment by a senior professor. That complaint was inquired into by the Internal Complaints Committee of the institute. The Governing Council being the appointing committee for the faculty deliberated on the report and resolved to compulsorily retire the faculty with immediate effect. The order was served on the faculty on October 22. He stands compulsorily retired,” said a spokesperson from the IISc as per The Hindu.
According to the complainant, Giridhar made sexually colored remarks against her and repeatedly called her at night.
A report in Economic Times stated that Giridhar is the recipient of the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award and has been awarded fellowships from the Indian National Science Academy, Indian National Academy of Engineering, Indian Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Science of India. He is also a recipient of the IISc Excellnce Award in Teaching and Research. The ISI Web of Knowledge lists him among the top 1% of scientists and he has held editorial positions in several top scientific journals.
His page on the IISc's website has since been pulled down.