General court directions in one writ do not impact separate termination proceedings based on independent enquiry.

Heard on the application seeking leave to file writ appeal against the order dated 21.12.2023 in WP No.11764 of 2023. This Court, while disposing of WP No.11764 of 2023, issued several directions.

2. The prayer in the writ petition was as under:

“Writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying to issue a Writ of Mandamus directing the 1st respondent to formulate a gender neutral policy to prevent sexual and/ or any other form of harassment of its students and create a support mechanism in keeping with the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Woman Act, 1998, University Grants Commission (Prevention, prohibition and redressal of Sexual Harassment of Women Employees and Students in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2015 and the various guidelines of the Central and State Governments, the National Commission for Children, the Central Civil Services Rules and to take action on the complaints of harassments received from the students either directly or through the 5th respondent Commission (i) by holding an enquiry through a Gender Sensitive Committee of which students and parents are also members, and (ii) reporting the complaints to the police for further investigation and prosecution under the Indian Penal code and the aforesaid statutes, and (iii) take disciplinary action against the perpetrators as per the relevant Conduct and Discipline Rules and Policies.”

2.1. The following observation was made in paragraph 19 of the order:

“19.The conclusion of the Independent Committee in regard to the allegations of sexual harassment and the recommendations relating to removal of a member of the faculty must be carried out on priority and forthwith, if not already done. With this, WMP No.25870 of 2023 stands closed.”

2.2 According to the applicant, the above observation would have an impact in the writ petition filed by him challenging the order of termination.

3. We have perused the order of termination dated 31.05.2024, which was passed after considering the explanation of the applicant and the findings of the Independent Enquiry Committee. The apprehension of the applicant is that the observation made in paragraph 19 of the order would affect the outcome of the writ petition.

4. We see no merits in the submissions of the learned counsel for the applicant since the directions contained in paragraph 19 are general in nature. The termination order came to be passed on the findings of the Internal Enquiry Committee. The applicant has already challenged the termination order in a separate writ petition, which is pending.

5. In view of the aforesaid, we do not find any reason to grant leave to the applicant to file writ appeal. The application to grant leave is hereby dismissed. Consequently, the writ appeal stands rejected in the SR stage. There will be no order as to costs.