On Tuesday, October 14, the Supreme Court dismissed the criminal defamation case against Firoz Bakht Ahmed, former Chancellor of Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU), directing him to publish an unconditional apology in "bold letters" on the front page of a local daily newspaper for his "sexual predator" remark directed at Professor Ehtesham Ahmad Khan, Dean of the School of Mass Communication and Journalism at MANUU.

As per a report by LiveLaw.in, the court has also ordered Firoz Bakht to pay Rs 1 lakh token damages for the "mental agony" caused to Professor Ehtesham on account of "wild allegations" within the next four weeks.

Here’s what happened

In 2018, Firoz Bakht wrote to then Union Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar, labelling Professor Ehtesham Ahmad a "sexual predator" amid allegations of "sexual harassment and humiliation" involving two female students at the university.

Professor Ehtesham subsequently filed a defamation case against Firoz Bakht under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code, arguing that the accusations were unfounded, as the university's Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) had not found any evidence against him.

Recently, a bench of Justices BR Gavai and VK Vishwanathan heard a petition from Firoz Bakht seeking to overturn a Telangana High Court decision that had refused to quash the criminal proceedings initiated by Professor Ehtesham regarding these remarks.