JNU sacks professor over sexual misconduct complaint by Japanese Embassy official

“The Japanese official had been in regular contact with the professor to coordinate conferences. She filed a complaint with the university’s ICC and submitted recordings of their conversations as evidence,” a JNU official told The Indian Express. It is learnt that Singh’s dismissal comes just a year away from his retirement.

The Council meeting also took disciplinary action against three other faculty members based on ICC recommendations. Two were penalised with the withholding of three annual increments each and a third, found guilty of alleged inappropriate behaviour under a minor offence, was directed to undergo sensitisation training. These faculty members are affiliated with JNU’s Centre for Historical Studies, School of Physical Sciences and Sanskrit Centre, respectively.

“These decisions reflect the administration’s zero tolerance policy against corruption and sexual offences. For the first time, students have been given representation in the ICC, an important step toward preserving JNU’s democratic culture,” Vice Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit told The Indian Express. The Council further resolved that student representatives will now be elected to the ICC.

Prof Swaran Singh was part of the Centre for International Politics, Organisation and Disarmament (CIPOD). A faculty member from the School of International Studies, under which CIPOD operates, said the university became aware of the complaint “around May last year”. “The ICC carried out an investigation and found that he had also faced allegations of misconduct earlier, during his time as an associate professor as well,” the official said.

According to sources, Singh had previously resigned from his role as associate professor at JNU following similar allegations. It is learnt that he later rejoined the university as a professor. Sources said the university has received around eight complaints of alleged sexual harassment against Singh over the years.

Singh did not respond to calls and messages from The Indian Express seeking comment. Dean of the School of International Studies, Amitabh Mattoo, declined to comment. The Japanese Embassy did not respond to emailed queries regarding the complaint.

Singh is a senior scholar in international relations with about three decades of experience in academia and research. According to the JNU official website, he holds an MA in Political Science from the University of Delhi, and an MPhil and PhD in International Studies from JNU. He also holds a post-doctoral diploma in Conflict Resolution from Uppsala in Sweden.

His academic focus spans “arms control & disarmament, conflict resolution & peace studies, India’s defence & nuclear policy, multilateralism, Asian affairs, China’s foreign and security policies” among others.

Singh began his academic career at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA) in New Delhi, where he served from 1992 to 2001 as a research faculty. He joined JNU in 2001 as a faculty member at the School of International Studies. He has held several prominent roles, including Chief Vigilance Officer at JNU (2012-2014), Visiting Professor at the University of British Columbia (2022-2023) and Asia Fellow at Beijing University (2001-2002), and had international collaborations with Centre de Sciences Humaines in New Delhi (2005-2008).

He also served as President of the Association of Asian Studies and General Secretary of the Indian Congress of Asian and Pacific Studies. Singh’s publications include peer-reviewed articles and co-authored papers on “Indo-US Cooperation in Countering Cyberterrorism: Challenges and Limitations” and “Covid-19 and India-China Equations: Examining their Interface in the Indian Ocean Region”, among others. His recent peer reviewed journals and books include “India and ASEAN in the Indo-Pacific”, “Politics of Climate Change” and “China and the Indo-Pacific”.