Lucknow: The emergency Executive Council meeting of Lucknow University on Monday recommended “stern disciplinary action” against the assistant professor of zoology department who has been arrested for making sexual advances towards a girl student.A disciplinary committee has been formed which will table its interim report on Tuesday in another emergency EC where a stringent service-related decision will be taken against the accused.“Acting on the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) report, EC has constituted a three-member disciplinary committee under the chairmanship of vice-chancellor Prof JP Saini for immediate action. The panel includes AP Sen Girls’ PG College principal Prof Rachna Srivastava and law faculty’s Prof Anand Vishwakarma to examine the case and submit its findings,” said LU spokesperson Mukul Srivastava.The disciplinary committee will conduct a detailed probe, verify the statements of the victim, the accused professor, and students who recorded their statements before the ICC. It will cross-examine the evidence and testimonies to establish facts before submitting its final report.The emergency EC was convened after the audio clips of the accused assistant professor went viral last week. He was heard inducing a girl student of BSc final year and promising her two exam papers of the ongoing examinations if she came to meet him. LU students, including student organisations such as Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad and Samajwadi Chattra Sabha, protested on the campus following which the girl student submitted her complaint to the proctor’s office and to the ICC on May 15.LU’s Controller of Examinations submitted a complaint against the accused for leaking two papers of the zoology department along with a pen drive containing the viral audio clips to the police and demanded registration of an FIR. The FIR was lodged at Hasanganj police station and the assistant professor was taken into custody on May 16. Police produced the accused before the local court, which remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days.Investigators also seized his laptop and mobile phone for examination at the forensic science laboratory.“We have mandated the appointment of presiding officers across all affiliated colleges and departments to strengthen grievance redressal and will be given dedicated WhatsApp numbers and official email IDs will be widely displayed to ensure easy and fearless reporting of complaints. An annual ICC calendar will introduce regular seminars and awareness programs, with at least two activities every month,” said LU vice-chancellor JP Saini.
