11 years ago, Kerala professor was accused of sexual harassment by students. Court now finds cases were politically motivated

In 2021, the Chief Judicial Magistrate court at Devikulam, near Munnar, had sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment in two cases, and acquitted him in two other cases. Challenging his conviction in the two cases, Viswanath moved the Additional Sessions Court in Thodupuzha, which has now set aside those convictions as well.

The judge, Laijumol Sherif, said in the verdict that the testimonies of the four students were full of contradictions, omissions and embellishments, making the case an improbable one. The contradictions were not corroborated with evidence from independent witnesses. Therefore, the evidence brought on record through the complainants is not sufficient to prove the occurrence, but is more than enough to prove that the professor was falsely implicated in the crime, the court found.

The professor was the additional chief superintendent of examinations at the college and had caught the students, who were activists of the CPI(M)’s student wing SFI, for malpractice during a postgraduate exam in 2014. He then reported the incident to the invigilator on duty, and handed over the manuscripts seized from the students.

4 FIRs, 4 trials

It was one month later that Viswanath’s ordeal began. The students, all women, filed a joint complaint with the Education Minister and the State Women’s Commission, alleging that the professor had sexually harassed them in the examination hall on different occasions between August and September, 2014. Subsequently, an internal committee was constituted. Based on the students’ complaint, four separate FIRs were registered against the professor two months after the alleged incidents, culminating in four final reports and four trials.

Advocate S Ashokan, who appeared for Viswanath, said the prosecution had not produced any independent witnesses, and that even the invigilator was not made a witness in the case. “In all the cases, the same girls were the witnesses. If one of the girls is a victim in a case, the other three were arraigned as witnesses in that case. In the other three cases, the same girls were listed in different roles as victims and as witnesses. The court has found that the cases were politically motivated,” the advocate said.

The court had found that “no action was taken on the malpractice of the four students, and instead there occurred a conspiracy at the party office of the CPI(M) to rope in the professor…”

The ordeal

Viswanath, who retired from service in 2021, said, “For the last 11 years, I had to face humiliation. I was forced to send my daughter and son for higher secondary education in Tamil Nadu due to these cases. After FIRs were registered, I went into hiding for one month fearing arrest. I returned home only after the court gave me anticipatory bail. Our colleges in Kerala are places where political conspiracies of this kind are witnessed.”

In the wake of the cases, he was suspended from the college. After four months of suspension, he was transferred to Malappuram and then to Chittoor in Palakkad. “Even now, at this age of 61, I am eligible for only 75% of the pension amount. Apart from the criminal cases of sexual harassment, I had to face the departmental inquiry that was initiated against me,” he said.

Viswanath had filed a complaint against the college principal for having implicated him in false cases and subsequently suspending him from service. Although an FIR was registered, police disposed of the matter. Now, he has filed a petition in court, challenging the closure report of the police.

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