ORDER :

Heard the Learned Counsel for the Petitioner and the Learned Counsel for the Respondent.

2. This Writ Petition is filed praying to issue a Writ of Mandamus declaring the proceedings dated 11.03.2022 issued by the respondent as unconstitutional, arbitrary and opposed to the principles of Natural justice and to set aside the same and consequently direct the respondent to restore the access of the petitioner to the residential complex in the institute and to pay the HRA that has been deducted from April 2022.

3. The case of the Petitioner, in brief, is as follows:

a) Petitioner is hailing from Maharashtra, having qualified the National Level PhD entrance exam in 2019 (CSIR-NET and DBT) and also the interview conducted by the respondent institute and having joined as Junior Researcher Fellow in the respondent institute, currently the petitioner is in 3rd year of PhD programme pursuing research on Molecular Oncology and has been upgraded to a Senior Research Fellow and receives a monthly fellowship amount of Rs. 35,000/- (Rupees Thirty Five Thousand only).

b) On the night of 28.11.2020, upon the request of petitioner’s friend, the petitioner had gone into room, which was already occupied by others (Shayantan, Shubra, Arijit including the Complainant “X”). The petitioner was in the friend’s room for a brief time before returning to petitioner’s room and in the brief time, petitioner did not witness any harassment between the complainant and the other male students in the room. The petitioner later came to know that the complainant has been sexually harassed by one of the male students in the room.

c) Petitioner came to know that Ms. X has preferred a complaint against the male student and that a Sexual Harassment Complaints Committee (SHCC) has been constituted to inquire into the complaint. Petitioner, who has been briefly in the office for a brief period, where the incident took place, was called by the Committee and was asked about the details of that night and petitioner had informed the committee about what little, the petitioner knew of.

d) Petitioner for the past 2 (Two) years neither had any knowledge that, petitioner too was named as one of the harassers/accused in the complaint by Ms. X nor did the petitioner receive any intimation to submit the statement of defence and on 11.03.2022, the respondent institute issued proceedings alleging that the petitioner has been involved in the facilitation of sexual harassment and had deliberately ignored the acts of sexual harassment against Ms.X. Petitioner never did receive the complaint copy preferred by Ms.X and till date no action had been taken by the SHCC.

e) Without even conducting an enquiry, Petitioner had been subjected to punishment and the HRA which is provided by the University Grants Commission (UGC) can only be cancelled when there has been misconduct. The Respondent Institute without sharing the information has taken upon itself to cancel the HRA and the same is illegal.

f) Petitioner made a representation to the respondent institute on 21.04.2022 vide email requesting the respondent institute to set aside the punishment initiated against the petitioner and since there has been no response to the representation, the petitioner filed the present writ petition.

4. The case of the Respondent, in brief, is as follows:

a) The respondent institute is not a “State” under Article 12 of the Constitution of India and not amenable to Writ Jurisdiction and is liable to be dismissed in limine, as the respondent institute is “Society” managed by its Governing Council.

b) The respondent Institute is having hostel accommodation for research hostel but the hostel is common for Ladies and Men and there have been instances of inappropriate behavior in rooms, including the incidents of misbehavior, unethical activities. The Internal Complaints Committee (will be referred to as ICC) had r