Who is Swaran Singh, JNU professor dismissed over sexual harassment charges?
The decision was taken by the university's Executive Council -- its highest statutory body -- after a detailed internal inquiry.
The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has dismissed a senior faculty member over charges of sexual harassment involving a Japanese embassy official.
A JNU official, on condition of anonymity, told HT that Swaran Singh, a senior faculty member from the School of International Studies had been terminated without benefits over allegations of sexual harassment of a Japanese official from the Embassy of Japan.
A senior faculty member not wishing to be named said that the incident occurred last May. There was “an intense amount of investigation by the committee in the case, where both sides had the opportunity to present witnesses,” the faculty member said, adding there was plenty of evidence against Singh, including audio recordings.
Who is Swaran Singh?
1. According to the JNU official website, Swaran Singh is a member of the Centre for International Politics, Organisation & Disarmament at JNU's School for International Studies.
2. He holds a master of arts (MA) in political science from the University of Delhi. Singh also has a PhD in International Studies at JNU. Besides this, he has a post doctoral diploma in Conflict Resolution from Upasala, Sweden.3. Swaran Singh has varied areas of interest and specialises in arms control & disarmament, conflict resolution and peace studies, India's defence and nuclear policy, and others.4. According to the JNU website, Singh joined the School of International Studies at JNU in 2001. Before this, he was a research faculty at the Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis, New Delhi from 1992 to 2001.5. Singh has served as the president of the Association of Asian Studies (2006) and general secretary of the Indian Congress of Asian & Pacific Studies in 2008. He was also the chief vigilance officer at the JNU from 2012 to 2014.
Meanwhile, another faculty member from the Environmental Science Department was dismissed over corruption charges in a research project. The case has been referred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Two non-teaching staff members have also been terminated following a fact-finding committee's report on the research project.
In other cases, faculty members have faced penalties including withholding of increments, censure, and mandatory sensitisation training.
