(MENAFN- IANS) Thodupuzha, Sep 2 (IANS) In a significant judgment, a court in Kerala's Thodupuzha has acquitted Professor Anand Viswanathan, former head of the Economics Department at the Munnar Government College, in a sexual harassment case that had lingered for more than a decade.

The Additional Sessions Court ruled that the complaints lodged against him by students in 2014 were false and part of a larger political conspiracy.

The case originated in August 2014, when five women students accused Viswanathan of sexual harassment during their MA Economics second-semester examination.

According to their complaint, he had harassed them in the exam hall, threatened to implicate them in a malpractice case, and warned that he would withhold internal marks.

Based on these allegations, Munnar police registered four cases, and charge sheets were later filed before the Devikulam Magistrate Court.

Earlier, Viswanathan had been acquitted in two of the cases, but in the remaining two, he was convicted, receiving a three-year jail sentence and a fine of Rs 5,000. In 2021, he appealed against the conviction.

The Additional Sessions Court, while reviewing the appeal, observed that the students' complaints stemmed from a grudge after they were caught copying during the August 2014 examination.

A university-level inquiry had also found the allegations unsubstantiated. Criticising the handling of the case, the court said the harassment charges were fabricated as part of a political vendetta and that the college Principal colluded in the effort.

It further remarked that the police had failed in their duty and appeared to act under political influence.

Speaking to the media, Viswanathan said his family stood by him.

"The complaint against me was written in the CPI-M office. The College principal also did wrong. Using political influence, including local MLA Rajendran, they framed me. Now I am relieved as it was a clean case of being framed for doing my duty,” said Viswanathan.

Viswanathan has long maintained that the case was engineered to target him and that there was a conspiracy.

The acquittal, delivered after 11 years of legal struggle, has vindicated the professor, with the court categorically stating that he was falsely implicated in order to "settle scores".

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