Guwahati, Aug. 10: Gauhati High Court has reinstated an IIT Guwahati professor who was suspended following his arrest for allegedly raping a non-teaching staff of the same institute.

Justice Arup Kumar Goswami, in a recent order, said Aloke Kumar Ghosal, who was arrested on December 16, 2014, be reinstated in the post of professor of chemical engineering in IIT Guwahati on the ground that his suspension order, which was issued on December 17, 2014, has lapsed and became invalid after expiry of 180 days on June 19, 2015.

The court cited Rule 10 of the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control & Appeal) Rules, 1965, which states extension of suspension cannot exceed 180 days at a time.

A certified copy of the court order was released today.

Ghosal was also the dean of academic affairs and in-charge of the peer review section.

The court, however, refused to pass any order for his reinstatement in these two posts saying these are purely administrative posts offered at the prerogative of the institute.

"It is provided that on reinstatement, it will not be necessary for the authorities to engage the service of the petitioner as dean of academic affairs and in-charge of peer review section," the order said.

Ghosal, who hails from Bengal's Hooghly district, was arrested after an office assistant lodged a complaint against him at the all-women police station at Panbazar alleging rape and sexual harassment. She claimed that he had even threatened her over telephone not to file any complaint against him.

The accused had joined IIT Guwahati in December 2002 as an assistant professor of chemical engineering department and was subsequently promoted to the post of associate professor and to the post of professor in 2005 and 2007 respectively. Prior to the posting in IIT Guwahati, he had served as an assistant professor in Birla Institute of Technology & Sciences (BITS), Pilani, from 1998 to 2002.

He was released on bail on March 16, 2015, by an order passed by the chief judicial magistrate, Kamrup, as the police could not file the chargesheet against him even 90 days after his arrest.