Protests against college principals and university vice chancellors are hardly surprising in these days of collective action as students rediscover their bargaining power against educational institutions. But what is happening at Delhi's St Stephen’s College is in an entirely different league.

The premier college, which boasts of illustrious alumni ranging from activists and actors to business magnates and bureaucrats, now finds itself in turmoil as students’ voices grow louder against what they term as inaction by the college administration, specifically Principal Valson Thampu, in a sexual harassment case filed by a PhD scholar against an assistant professor.

In a seven-page-long complaint, the student alleged she was sexually assaulted in October 2013 but did not press charges fearing consequences for her career. The complaint by the woman, a doctoral student of chemistry, went on to say that the professor once threatened to throw sulphuric acid on her if she did not wear a yellow sari to the laboratory and alleged that he also tried to discuss sex and relationships.

Following the incidents, the complainant said that she went to Thampu last December, but he asked her to withdraw the complaint instead of taking action.

Even though the college maintained that an enquiry was instituted after the complaint was forwarded to the Internal Complaints Committee, an audio tape submitted to the Delhi Police by the woman allegedly reveals Thampu asking her to “take back” the complaint and encouraging her to rethink her decision to go ahead with her allegations.

'Sack the principal'

Thampu had already been involved in a series of controversies, but these latest reports resulted in a spontaneous outpouring of rage from all directions, as everybody, from the alumni to students, is protesting against the principal and demanding his resignation.

“As Stephanians, we are aghast and shocked that the principal of such a prestigious college has stooped to such a level that he has been pressurising the sexual harassment victim to take back her complaint and hush up the matter,” Ashish Joshi, the media coordinator of the Association of Old Stephanians, told ANI. “In fact, the association of Old Stephanians has issued a press release and we have demanded that the supreme body and the governing council of St Stephens College should immediately sack the principal.”

Thampu claimed that he was being chased “like an animal” and being implicated falsely in the case. “Since the matter is sub-judice, I appeal to all those concerned that this constant character assassination of me as well as the college should be avoided,” he told reporters. On Monday, he even offered to resign.

“If I am a cause of embarrassment to the institution and it is objectively proved, I will put in my papers that very moment,” he was quoted to have said by the Indian Express.

Leaving aside the small matter of how he expects proof to be exhibited, Thampu has seen a fair share of controversies during his tenure as principal.  Here’s a lowdown on three of them.

Appointment and financial irregularities
Alongside the current controversy,  severe criticism of Thampu’s conduct came from the college alumni association, which wrote to the ministry of human resources development, asking it to step in due to “serious maladministration" at the college.

The Association of Old Stephenians also requested the Comptroller and Auditor General of India to carry out a special audit and look into the “serious financial mismanagement” at the college. Alleging that details weren’t available about the Rs 10 lakhs sanctioned by the government for a water harvesting system, it claimed that the state of affairs in St. Stephen's College after Valson Thampu became its principal in 2008 had deteriorated.

The group even asked the HRD Ministry to order an inquiry into the circumstances leading to Thampu’s appointment and demanded to know why the vice chancellor had not questioned the “illegal appointment”.

Clamping down on independent voices
In March, an independent college magazine called the St. Stephen’s Weekly, started by four students of the college, shut shop in less than four days after the principal objected to it being published before he cleared its contents.

Devansh Mehta, the student who started the magazine, alleged that Thampu had urged them to change the name of the publication from Stephen’s Weekly to St. Stephen’s Weekly and later argued that the magazine would have to be under the purview of college administration for using the name of the college.

“Even a pencil cannot be manufactured without a license,” he had reportedly said.

Thampu went on to suspend Mehta from college, but eventually had to eat humble pie when Mehta moved Delhi High Court, which ordered the punishment to be revoked.

Trying to convert college official
Adding fuel to the fire are the frequent court cases in which Thampu finds himself entangled. One of these is an allegation that he had tried to force an administrative officer in the college to convert to Christianity.

In May, the Delhi High court rapped Thampu while hearing a petition filed by an administration officer, Subha Kumar Dash, alleging that he was made to work under “deplorable conditions” in a storeroom full of insects and lizards, without basic amenities, because he had resisted the principal's efforts to get him to convert.

"Why can't the Principal behave himself?” asked the judge, addressing Thampu’s counsel. “Why is he acting like this?"