The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C) has allowed a student, who was arrested on rape charges and is now out on bail, to return to classes. The student, Paramanand Mahaveer Toppannawar (26), will be allowed to attend classes from July 28, according to an institute official. The decision was made by the academic council in a meeting held last week. However, the council decided that Paramanand cannot stay in the campus hostel until the Kolkata Police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) finishes its probe.

The meeting took place after Paramanand visited the campus and submitted a request to attend classes. His second request, to return to the Lake View Hostel, where he lived before his arrest,  was denied. The hostel is co-educational, and the investigation is still ongoing. He will be allowed to use the library, but his request to get compensatory attendance for the classes he missed while in jail (from July 12 to 22) will be considered later. He has about eight months of study left in the two-year program.

The academic council’s decision was based on legal advice. The meeting was attended by the acting director, Saibal Chattopadhyay, deans, and senior faculty members. Paramanand was arrested after a woman filed a police complaint, claiming he raped her on July 11 in the hostel after spiking her drink. She said she had gone there for counselling, though she was not linked to the institute.

However, the case took a turn when the woman did not cooperate with police during the investigation. Her father later said she had been pressured to make the complaint and that nothing had happened on July 11.