IIM Calcutta has convened a meeting of its academic council this week to decide what steps to take following the arrest of a second-year student for allegedly raping a woman in a hostel room on the campus.
An official of the Joka institute said they were seeking legal opinion to decide on whether they had to consider allowing the accused — Paramanand Mahaveer Toppannawar, 26, also known as Paramanand Jain, from Karnataka — to attend classes in case the court grants him bail after his police remand ends on July 19.
The Alipore court on Saturday remanded Paramanand in jail custody till July 19 on charges of raping a 24-year-old woman in a room of the Lake View Hostel.
Paramanand allegedly spiked a drink and then sexually assaulted the woman on Friday.
"Attendance is mandatory in the two-year MBA programme. Since the student has been remanded in jail custody till July 19, he is bound to miss classes till then. If he is granted bail after that, we have to decide whether he will be allowed to attend classes. We have to discuss this in the academic council. If needed, the institute has to take further legal opinion," the official said.
The academic council meeting had been scheduled long before the incident. But now, after the alleged crime on the campus, the incident needs to be discussed at the meeting, the official said.
The official added that if Paramanand is found guilty of the offence, his degree would be invalidated.
"But it can take quite some time before any conclusions can be arrived at. In the meantime, we have to decide whether we can consider giving him attendance. A case like this has never happened on campus," the official said.
Another official of IIM Calcutta said Paramanand's mother has come to the city and is scheduled to meet the institute's director-in-charge, Saibal Chattopadhyay, on Monday.
Students in the second year will start getting job placement offers in the next few months, the official said.
A professor of IIM Calcutta said the institute was walking a tightrope because the alleged rape on the campus has destroyed its image.
"The institute can't do anything that gives the impression that while seeking to protect a student's career, it is trivialising the charges levelled against him," the professor told Metro on Sunday.
"The authorities have to do a lot of brainstorming at the academic council meeting to find a way," the professor added.