SRFTI sexual harassment case: Final IC report out, action awaited from chairman Suresh Gopi

Two years after a former student and faculty member of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) in Kolkata filed a complaint of sexual harassment against a top official of the institute, the Inquiry Authority has found him guilty of most of the charges. The complainant had approached the Internal Committee (IC) of the institute in May 2024, after which the first stage of the inquiry was completed in October that year. The second stage of the inquiry reportedly concluded this month.

The Chairperson of the institute, actor and Bharatiya Janata Party politician Suresh Gopi, has to decide on the course of action to follow. Two years have already passed since the complaint was made. As per law, an IC inquiry should be completed within 90 days of receiving a complaint, under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act or POSH Act.

In January 2025, the complainant had spoken through the forum Women Against Sexual Harassment (WASH) about the delay in taking action against the accused, months after the preliminary investigation was completed by the IC. The accused official was only asked to work from home with payment, so his presence in the campus will not affect the investigation. In the WASH forum, it was stated that the SRFTI survivor had endured physical assault, sexual harassment, criminal intimidation, blackmail, threats, and abusive language from the accused official.

However, after the preliminary report was submitted in October 2024, Suresh Gopi had allegedly refused to comply with the recommendations of the IC and delayed issuing the chargesheet required for the second stage of the investigation to proceed. He later signed and issued the chargesheet after news reports came out about the delay. During this gap, the accused official had approached the Calcutta High Court and contested the findings of the IC. Although the court ruled that it would not interfere with the IC findings, it insisted against taking any coercive measures against the official based on the preliminary report.

In September 2025, the institute had issued an order reinstating the accused official, who had been working from home for over a year. However, the students gheraoed the Vice Chancellor’s office and carried out a day-long protest after which the order was revoked.

It took several more months for the final report of the inquiry to come out. There is still no word about any proceedings against the accused official, despite the chairman being more present on the campus recently.

After a prolonged absence, Suresh Gopi began to visit the campus more regularly following the BJP’s victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections. He was present for the 14th convocation ceremony as well as for acting master classes in the SRFTI campuses in Itanagar and Kolkata. In October 2024, when he visited the Kolkata campus for the first time, more than a year after his appointment as chairman, the student union had gifted him a copy of Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste. The BJP Member of Parliament had earlier made a controversial statement that he wished to be reborn as a Brahmin – a privileged caste in India.

The delay in the case appears to have other repercussions. In an older case of sexual harassment at the institute, a few students had approached the IC in 2015, which resulted in the compulsory retirement of two professors a year later. However, 10 years later, the professors challenged the IC’s findings and sent legal notices to the complainants. This happened a year after the 2024 complaint was filed against the top official and no action had been taken against him.