The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C) has removed its director-in-charge Sahadeb Sarkar based on a sexual harassment complaint against him. In an official statement issued late on Tuesday evening by the institute, action against Sarkar was taken based on the recommendation of the internal complaints committee (ICC) and the allegations are being probed.
Meanwhile, the institute appointed the next senior-most faculty member, Professor Saibal Chattopadhyay, as the director-in-charge with immediate effect.
IIMC Initiates Action Based On ICC Recommendation
“The Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of the institute has received a written complaint under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act) against the then Director-in-Charge Professor Sahadeb Sarkar. The ICC has ascertained that prima facie the complaint warrants a formal inquiry and communicated the same to the Board of Governors (BoG),” stated the institute’s statement.
The action was taken to ensure “impartiality” so that the inquiry is duly compliant with the principles of natural justice. “IIM-C Board of Governors held a special meeting on 6 January 2024 and accepted the recommendation of the ICC that Professor Sahadeb Sarkar shall not continue in the office of Director-in-Charge and shall be removed from the said post and any other position wherein he has administrative charges in IIM Calcutta, during the pendency of formal inquiry before the ICC and any proceedings arising therefrom or incidental thereto,” it said.
Third Director To Exit Position In Recent Years Before Tenure Expiry
Notably, Sarkar’s removal makes him the third IIM director in the past three years to leave his position before the expiry of his tenure. Uttam Kumar Sarkar resigned as director in August 2023 after serving only two years of his five-year term. In March 2021, the then-director Anju Seth resigned in the fourth year of her term.
Bengali