Idukki: After an 11-year legal battle, retired college professor Anand Viswanath (61) has been acquitted of all sexual harassment charges filed against him by students, with the court concluding that he was falsely implicated in a politically motivated case.

Viswanath, who served as head of the Economics department at Government College, Munnar, was accused in 2014 of sexually harassing four postgraduate students during examinations. At the time, he was the additional chief superintendent of examinations. The allegations surfaced barely a month after he caught the same students—members of the CPI(M)’s student wing, SFI—engaging in malpractice and reported them to authorities.

The accusations led to four separate FIRs, four trials, and eventually, in 2021, a verdict by the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court at Devikulam that sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment in two cases while acquitting him in two others. Viswanath challenged the conviction, and the Additional Sessions Court in Thodupuzha has now cleared him of all charges.

Delivering the verdict, Judge Laijumol Sherif noted that the testimonies of the students were “full of contradictions, omissions and embellishments,” and lacked corroboration from independent witnesses. The court further found that “no action was taken against the malpractice of the students, and instead, there occurred a conspiracy at the CPI(M) party office to rope in the professor.”

Advocate S Ashokan, representing Viswanath, argued that the prosecution relied solely on the statements of the four students, who appeared interchangeably as victims and witnesses across the cases. The invigilator present during the alleged incidents was not even examined. For Viswanath, who retired in 2021, the acquittal brings some relief after years of stigma and humiliation.

“For the last 11 years, I had to live under suspicion. I was even forced to send my children to Tamil Nadu for their studies. Even today, I receive only 75% of my pension,” he said.

He also recalled spending a month in hiding after the FIRs were filed, fearing arrest, before securing anticipatory bail. Following the allegations, he faced suspension, transfers, and a departmental inquiry in addition to the criminal trials.

Viswanath has separately accused his college principal of framing him in the case. Though police had closed the matter, he has filed a petition challenging the closure report.