The Karnataka Excessive Courtroom Thursday recalled its earlier order that had quashed proceedings below the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, initiated in opposition to Infosys co-founder S Kris Gopalakrishnan and several other Indian Institute of Science (IISc) officers, together with Director Govindan Rangarajan and Registrar Sridhar Warrier.
Justice S R Krishna Kumar handed the recall order after the complainant, Dr D Sanna Durgappa, a former IISc professor, submitted that the sooner ruling was handed with out listening to his aspect. The court docket noticed that the complainant and his counsel weren’t current – both bodily or through video conferencing – on April 16, when a co-ordinate bench had allowed the petition by the accused and quashed the First Info Report (FIR).
“Realized senior counsel for petitioners wouldn’t dispute that… the respondent no 1 or his counsel weren’t current… and that they weren’t heard on that day,” the court docket famous.
“In that view of the info and circumstances, with out expressing any opinion… and to be able to present another alternative to respondent no 1 to make submissions on the deserves of the matter, I deem it simply and applicable to recall the ultimate order,” Justice Krishna Kumar acknowledged. The matter has been restored for listening to on August 7, with the interim keep on proceedings prolonged till then.
The case entails allegations of caste-based discrimination, wrongful dismissal, and threats made by senior IISc officers and members of its Governing Council. Other than Gopalakrishnan – Chairman of the IISc Council since 2022 – others named within the FIR embrace Sandya Vishwswaraih, Hari Ok V S, Dasappa, Balaram P, Hemalata Mhishi, Chattopadyaya Ok, Pradeep D Sawkar, and Manoharan.
Case background
The matter stems from a personal grievance filed by former IISc assistant professor Dr Durgappa, who hails from a Scheduled Caste group. He alleged that he was falsely implicated in a 2014 honey lure case, following which he was terminated from service in 2015. He additionally claimed caste-based abuse and threats by IISc college and authorized representatives.
The termination was legally challenged, however a settlement was reached, changing it right into a resignation. Dr Durgappa acquired terminal advantages and agreed to withdraw associated complaints pending earlier than our bodies just like the Nationwide Fee for Scheduled Castes.
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Regardless of this, he filed two extra complaints in 2016 and 2017 below the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which the excessive court docket quashed, noting that the allegations have been an try to provide a “prison color to a civil dispute.”
In 2025, he filed a 3rd grievance with related fees and contemporary allegations in opposition to two IISc authorized representatives. This led to the registration of an FIR, which the excessive court docket had quashed on April 16, stating the claims didn’t represent offences below the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and amounted to “vexatious litigation.”
Justice Hemant Chandangoudar had termed the FIR “an abuse of the authorized course of” and permitted the petitioners to method the Advocate Normal for initiating prison contempt proceedings in opposition to Dr Durgappa.
With Thursday’s order, the matter is now restored for contemporary listening to, giving the complainant a chance to current his case.