Four years after completing her MBA course, an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Rohtak student is still waiting for her final result. On September 3, the Punjab and Haryana High Court disposed of her contempt petition against the institute after it undertook to declare the result within 10 days.
Justice Harpreet Kaur Jeewan who passed the order noted that the institute had only partially complied with the court’s previous directions by paying ₹2 lakh in compensation and ₹30,000 as security deposit, but had failed to release the result.
The petitioner, who appeared in person, told the court that the delay amounted to willful disobedience of the High Court’s July 15, 2024 ruling, which had quashed the disciplinary action against her and ordered the release of her result.
During the hearing, advocates Suvan Jain and Urvashi Singh, appearing for the institute, submitted that the payments were made on October 4, 2024, and assured the court that “the result of the petitioner shall be declared within 10 days from today.”
The contempt petition was the latest step in a long legal battle between the student and IIM Rohtak. The dispute began in February 2020 when, as a member of the 2018-2020 batch, she lodged a sexual harassment complaint against some officials and a student to the IIM director. The institute’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) termed the allegations unsustainable and initiated disciplinary action. On June 6, 2020, the institute ordered her to repeat the final trimester and issue an apology for allegedly damaging its reputation, a punishment it classified as a “major category” offense.
She challenged the decision, arguing that such a penalty had no basis in the handbook applicable to her batch. In July 2024, the High Court agreed, quashing the disciplinary action and ordering the institute to declare her result and pay ₹2 lakh as compensation for the “drastic and adverse impact” on her career. The Single Judge noted that she “could not do anything for the next four years” because of the institute’s action.
IIM Rohtak appealed, citing a clause in the 2018-2020 handbook allowing changes during the course.
But in August 2024, a Division Bench of Justice S S Sandhawalia and Justice Ritu Tagore dismissed the appeal, holding that provisions introduced in a later handbook could not apply retrospectively.
With the contempt petition now disposed of, the institute has committed to declaring the result by September 13.
The Bench also flagged a violation of natural justice, noting the student was never given notice or an opportunity to respond before the punishment was imposed.
Rejecting the institute’s argument against compensation, the Bench observed that her career had been “put at stake” for four years, which justified the monetary relief.
With the contempt petition now disposed of, the institute has committed to declaring the result by September 13.
