MANUU faces sexual harassment dispute over ICC report

Maulana Azad National Urdu University, a central university based in Hyderabad, is currently embroiled in a serious controversy of sexual harassment and suppression of facts, with the complainant approaching the Supreme Court seeking justice.

University sources said a senior faculty member from the Islamic Studies Department is accused of sexual abuse that subjected the alleged victim to years of mental trauma and agony until she broke down and filed a complaint.

The Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) is learned to have submitted its report confirming the harassment; However, instead of taking action against the faculty member, the university appointed a retired judge as an investigating officer to investigate the issue further. This is contrary to the Sexual Harassment of Women in the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Remedy) Act 2013 (POSH Act), under which the ICC is established.

According to sources close to the complainant, the sordid saga spanning several years included grooming, psychological manipulation, gaslighting, coercion, isolation and forced sexual acts.

The university refused to share a copy of the ICC report with the complainant and his letters to the Ministry of Higher Education and the Ministry of Women and Child Development reportedly yielded no action.

Eventually, the woman filed a writ petition in the High Court seeking a stay on the second investigation launched by the university. In an interim order dated August 20, 2026, the court stayed the university’s investigative proceedings until September 1, 2026, and extended it until October 14, 2026 at the next hearing, giving the university time to file its opposition.

The court filing stated that the applicant, who was an assistant professor at the university, filed a complaint on January 23, 2026 with the International Criminal Court in connection with sexual harassment. The ICC submitted its inquiry report along with recommendations in April 2026. However, the complainant was not provided with a copy of the inquiry report or informed of the outcome of the proceedings. She learned that the ICC submitted its report to the university authorities only when she filed a request under the Right to Information Act, 2005.

Under the POSH Act, the employer is required to provide copies of the ICC report to both parties concerned and to act on its recommendations within 60 days of receiving them.

In this case, however, copies were not provided to either party and no action was taken within the prescribed period.

Further, the University Grants Commission regulations mandate that the executive body of the Institute of Higher Education (in this case the University Executive Board) must act on the recommendations of the ICC within 30 days of receipt of the inquiry report, unless either party lodges an appeal against the findings within that period.

It is also provided that an appeal against the ICC findings/recommendations can be filed by either party within 30 days from the date of the recommendation, which in this case was by the end of June.

However, an email sent by The Hindu to the accused faculty seeking his version received a reply that he “preferred legal appeal before the competent authority and the matter is currently pending”.

He also added that the ICC proceedings and the report, in his considered opinion, did not fairly or fully take into account his answers, defense and material on record.

Several attempts to reach MANUU Vice-Chancellor and Padma Shri awardee Syed Ainul Hasan remained unsuccessful, while the Registrar, Sk. Ishtiaque Ahmed said he could not provide the university version as it was a court case.

Published – 24 Sep 2026 08:43 IST