In a significant judgment, the Supreme Court has deleted a controversial direction from its earlier judgment requiring Professor Nirmal Kanti Chakrabarti, former Vice Chancellor of the National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), to mention the dismissal of a sexual harassment complaint in his professional resume.
The direction, initially passed on 12 September 2025, was aimed at publicly disclosing that the complaint against Prof. Chakrabarti was dismissed as time-barred under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
Senior Advocate Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Prof. Chakrabarti, argued the deletion was necessary to prevent stigma against his client. Opposing the review, Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora, on behalf of the complainant, suggested the proper course was a review petition, which the Court treated this application as.
The bench comprising Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Prasanna B Varale observed that the original intent was to inform the public but acknowledged the absence of any substantive fault on the part of Prof. Chakrabarti. The Court accepted the review application highlighting that the complaint was dismissed on procedural grounds with no finding on merits, and that the direction caused unnecessary prejudice to his reputation.
The Court’s final order deletes the impugned sentence in paragraph 34 of the earlier judgment, removing the requirement to mention the dismissed complaint in Prof. Chakrabarti’s resume.
