IIMB director, dean booked for 'discriminating' against Dalit prof

Bengaluru: The director, the dean (faculty), and six professors of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) have been booked by the Bengaluru police for discriminating against a Dalit associate professor based on his caste. 

The Mico Layout police on Friday opened a case under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections related to criminal intimidation. They have named Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director; U Dinesh Kumar, Dean, Faculty; and professors Shainesh G, Srinivas Prakhya, Chetan Subramanyan, Ashish Mishra, Sreelata Jonnalagedda, and Rahul De. 

A senior officer privy to the investigation stated that although the individuals named in the FIR claimed to have obtained a stay order from the court, the police had not yet received the written directive. 

The FIR is based on a complaint from Gopal Das, an associate professor of marketing at the premier institution. 

The Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement (DCRE), a state government entity, had conducted its own investigation and submitted its report to the Social Welfare Department on November 26, validating Das' allegations.

Based on the DCRE report, the Social Welfare Department wrote to the state police chief on December 9, seeking legal action on Das' complaint. 

In the FIR, Das alleged that the eight individuals "deliberately revealed and publicised" his caste at his workplace. He noted that he was "discriminated against based on his caste and treated unequally". 

"They caused obstruction to my work by targeting me at my workplace and threatened me. I was also mentally harassed," Das told the police, urging them to initiate action against the accused.