The bail was granted to the accused, Hari Padman, by the Metropolitan Magistrate Court after his plea for bail was earlier turned down by the Madras High Court.

CHENNAI: A city court in Chennai has granted bail to assistant professor Hari Padman, a suspended faculty of the Rukmini Devi College for fine arts run by the Kalakshetra Foundation, who was facing sexual harassment charges.

The Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Saidapet granted him bail on Saturday, June 3, 2023, after he was earlier declined bail by a magistrate court and the principal sessions court. 

Hari Padman, who was arrested on April 3 by the police following complaints of sexual harassment of students of the institute, had earlier moved the Madras High Court with a plea for bail but his plea was turned down. However, he withdrew the petition before filing a fresh one.

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When the second bail application came up before Justice AD Jagadish Chandira on Tuesday, his counsel sought to withdraw it, citing a grant of bail by the city court. Subsequently, the judge allowed the taking back of the application. 

After the allegations, the foundation constituted a committee headed by a retired judge to go through the issues. Certain affected students approached the Madras High Court seeking the framing of a gender-neutral policy for protecting the students from being sexually harassed.

#MadrasHC orders #Kalakshetra Foundation to constitute ICC with parents and teachers #TamilNadu CM #MKStalin to meet President #DroupadiMurmu on Friday WATCH | A brief #news bulletin from the #TamilNadu bureau of @NewIndianXpress by @pujanayar pic.twitter.com/zWCFYnyqPk

— TNIE Tamil Nadu (@xpresstn) April 26, 2023

The court ordered the foundation to frame such a policy and re-constitute the internal complaints committee with representatives of parents and teachers.