It is a blight on Kalakshetra Foundation to have not addressed sexual harassment complaints promptly: Madras High Court

Madras High Court criticizes Kalakshetra Foundation for mishandling sexual harassment allegations, orders immediate action on recommendations.

It is a blight on Kalakshetra Foundation to have not addressed effectively and promptly the allegations of sexual harassment of students, the Madras High Court has said. It ordered immediate consideration of recommendations made by an independent inquiry committee headed by former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge K. Kannan.

Justice Anita Sumanth had called for a copy of the inquiry report at the instance of senior counsel R. Vaigai representing seven students who wished to remain anonymous and wanted to be identified only as XYZ even in the court proceedings. After perusing the report, the judge expressed shock over the nature of the allegations levelled.

“The report of the independent committee is graphic in regard to the nature of sexual harassment that has been alleged. The allegations are distasteful to say the least and extremely disturbing. The Committee has made a series of recommendations, and some are reiterated in this order for urgent consideration by the management of Kalakshetra,” the judge wrote.

The committee had recommended a ban on the entry of students into the teachers’ quarters with the only exception being social occasions and community celebrations. It had also stated that as a portal of higher learning, the emphasis at Kalakshetra should be on deep learning and perfection of the art form before the students embark on public performances.

“The obsession for performance must be curtailed in preference to the student polishing the art form and one’s exposition of the same. As a consequence, students may be dissuaded from participating in inland and global tours for public performances,” the committee had said and recommended automation of attendance registers as well as entry and exit of all staff members.

“The practice of calling upon repertory artists to step in for a teacher who is absent should be eliminated. A clear demarcation must be drawn between the repertory and its artists on the one hand, and the academic section of the college on the other. Only post graduate students and interns must assist in the academic curriculum,” the inquiry committee had said.

It also impressed upon the need for strict enforcement of the code which prohibits teaching and non-teaching staff of the Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts (RDCFA), run by the Kalakshetra Foundation, from establishing and running dance or music schools of their own. Justice Sumanth ordered that the committee’s other recommendation to remove a particular faculty member must be implemented forthwith.