The Bengaluru Police have lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan and 17 faculty and administrative members of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) for alleged caste-based discrimination.

The case was filed under the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) Prevention of Atrocities Act following a complaint by former IISc faculty member D Sanna Durgappa, said The News Minute.

Caste-based Discrimination Allegation

The accused had made casteist comments against him and dismissed him from the job at the Centre for Sustainable Technology at the institute in 2014 on a frivolous sexual harassment complaint. He lodged the FIR on Monday at Sadashivanagar police station. Durgappa, Bovi caste, belongs to the Dalit community, charged the 18 accused persons with caste abuse against him, as well as having wrongfully terminated him from the job.

Durgappa further indicated that after he had sought funding for the laboratory and sitting area under the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan, he had become a victim of targeted discrimination.

Investigation Findings and Delayed Reinstatement

In 2017, a committee of the Karnataka Assembly investigated the allegations and did not find any evidence of sexual harassment against Durgappa. The report said that he was targeted because he was a Dalit. Durgappa stated that IISc agreed to reinstate him according to the committee’s findings but the institution did not act on this, leaving him unemployed for over nine years.

People Accused in the FIR

In addition to Infosys Co-Founder, other faculty members from IISc whose names feature in the FIR include Sridhar Warrier, Anil Kumar, Namrata Gundaih, Nirmala, Sandhya Vishwanath, Dipshika Chakravarthy, Hari KVS, Dasappa, Govindan Rangarajan, Balachandra P, Hemala Mhishi, Anjali Karande, Chattopadhyaya K, Pradeep Sawkar, Abhilash Raju, and Manoharan.

According to PTI, till now none of the accused has replied to the charges against them.