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Court grants pre-arrest bail to prof booked over ‘sexual harassment’

The professor had earlier this month approached the court with his pre-arrest bail plea denying the allegation.

2 min readMumbaiDec 30, 2025 09:26 PM IST

anticipatory bail, 61-year-old professor, sexual harassment,

The professor had earlier this month approached the court with his pre-arrest bail plea denying the allegation. (File photo)

A sessions court Monday granted anticipatory bail to the 61-year-old professor booked on charges of alleged sexual harassment at a city college during his appearance as a guest speaker at the institute’s annual festival last month.

The detailed order is yet to be made available.

The professor had earlier this month approached the court with his pre-arrest bail plea denying the allegation.

He had said that the complaint could be due to some misunderstanding or due to a personal grudge, and his custody is not required.

The police had opposed the plea stating that his custodial interrogation was necessary to probe the allegations. The court had reserved the plea for orders after hearing both sides.

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An FIR was filed at the police station concerned on November 30, on the complaint filed by a female faculty member of the college, alleging that nine students had complained of being harassed by the guest during the festival event held on November 26.

The police had claimed that the accused took selfies and inappropriately touched the students.

In the pre-arrest bail plea, filed through his lawyer Irfan Ansari, the professor based in Vidarbha, said that he has an apprehension of illegal action or arrest by the police, after he was visited by the investigating officer (IO) at the hospital he is admitted at and woken up, to serve a notice.

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The plea also said that he was facing “serious depression” and other medical issues. He had also said that he is a permanent employee of the Central Government and would remain present for the probe and co-operate with the investigation agency.

While the police had claimed that the nine women who have made the same allegations show the seriousness of the case, the professor had, in his plea, said that he has been invited by thousands of national and international colleges, and till date there has not been a single complaint from any college.

The detailed reasoning on the court’s decision is likely to be made public later this week.