IIM-Calcutta Removes Director After Sexual Harassment Allegation by Staffer

The institute said it received a complaint from a staffer who alleged she was sexually harassed by Sarkar.

(Trigger warning: Mentions of sexual harassment.)

The Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, has removed Sahadeb Sarkar, the director-in-charge, following an allegation of sexual harassment.

The action against Sarkar came after the institute's Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) received a written complaint under the Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013 (or the POSH Act), the institute confirmed to The Quint.

A woman staffer complained to the institute about being sexually harassed by the director in December 2023.

In a statement on Tuesday, 17 January, the institute said:

"The ICC has ascertained that prima facie the complaint warrants a formal inquiry and communicated the same to the Board of Governors (BoG). The ICC expressed its concern and apprehension in proceeding with a free and fair inquiry, including its ability to access other witnesses including contract staff, and faculty and documents available with the institute, when Prof. Sahadeb Sarkar is occupying the position of director-in-charge and recommended his removal from the said post and any other position wherein he has administrative charges, during the pendency of formal inquiry before the ICC [sic]."

The statement added that Sarkar's removal was stated to be a requirement for the ICC to ensure that impartiality was maintained and the probe "was compliant with the principles of natural justice."

Professor Saibal Chattopadhyay has been appointed as the director-in-charge of the business school, reported news agency PTI.

'Allegations Are Baseless': Sarkar's Response

Sarkar, meanwhile, has called the allegations "baseless," The Telegeraph reported.

"I emphatically deny the allegations made against me. I am shocked with the baseless allegations," he said.

"In any case, this seems to be an official press release by the management and I am prevented from speaking to the press by the POSH rules 17(6) of the institute. I will address this appropriately at an appropriate forum," he added.

Sarkar's removal makes him the third IIM-Calcutta director in three years to leave their position before the expiry of their tenure.

In August 2023, Uttam Kumar Sarkar resigned as director after serving only two years of his five-year term. In March 2021, then-director Anju Seth, who was the first woman director of the institute, had resigned in the fourth year of her term.