The Patiala House Court in Delhi on Tuesday granted bail to Jawaharlal Nehru University professor Atul Johri, hours after the police arrested him on charges of sexual harassment. Students of the university had clashed with the police in front of the Vasant Kunj Police Station on Monday.
Investigators had produced Johri at the Patiala House Court in Delhi after questioning him. The police registered eight separate cases of sexual harassment against Johri, as demanded by 54 professors of the university in a petition to Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-West) Milind Dumbere on Monday.
Johri’s lawyer RK Wadhva claimed that the professor was a victim of a political conspiracy. “He had reprimanded them [the complainants] for their attendance and had asked them to attend classes,” Wadhva claimed. “The students conspired to complain against him.”
Johri resigned from his administrative role on March 16 after the Delhi Police registered a sexual harassment case against him.
On Monday, the Delhi Commission for Women had issued a notice to the police, asking why the professor had not been arrested yet. The commission had asked the police to submit a status report in the case by March 23 and also sent a notice to the university administration, asking it to explain the steps taken to protect the complainants.
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