Revision as of 12:12, 27 November 2016

The rules; court judgements

Allegations of sexual abuse may cause suspension in government departments

The Times of India, Jul 18 2015

Bharti Jain

Suspension before inquiry in sexual harassment case?

Govt employees likely to face action before filing of charges

A government employee, facing allegations of sexual harassment at workplace, may be suspended even before filing of the chargesheet if his continuance in office is likely to prejudice the investigations or leads to a scandal, compromising wider public interest.

A DoPT note issued outlining the steps for conduct of inquiry into complaints of sexual harassment in government departments, also provides for initiation of action without inquiry where the charged government servant threatens or intimidates witnesses, disciplinary authority or members of the complaints committee.Such circumstances may exist either before commencement of the inquiry or develop during the course of the inquiry.

As per the procedure prescribed for dealing with com plaints of sexual harassment, a government employee may be placed under suspension before or after filing of the chargesheet where there is apprehension that he may tamper with witnesses or evidence (documents). “Suspension may also be resorted to where continuance of the government servant in office will be against wider public interest such as there is a public scandal and it is necessary to place the government servant under suspension to demonstrate the policy of the government to deal strictly with officers involved in such scandals,“ says the DoPT order.

“It may be desirable to re sort to suspension in case of misdemeanor involving acts of moral turpitude,“ it adds.

As per Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, every employer, both in the public and private sector, must set up a sexual harassment complaints committee to inquire into such acts reported at workplace. The law provides for transfer of the victim or accused to a different workplace, pending the inquiry, but an accused government employee may also face suspension ahead of being chargesheeted, if the disciplinary authority deems his continuation as prejudicial to the inquiry or against public interest.

Acting tough on an accused who, through or with his associates, tries to intimidate or terrorise witnesses likely to testify against him, the norms empower the disciplinary authority to suspend the inquiry and take action against him without such inquiry . The circumstances leading the disciplinary authority to conclude that it is not reasonably practicable to hold the inquiry include threatening, intimidation or terrorizing of the disciplinary authority , members of the complaints committee, the presenting officer or members of their family .

At the same time, the DoPT has clarified that the “disciplinary authority is not expected to dispense with the inquiry lightly , arbitrarily or with ulterior motive or merely because the case against the government servant is weak“.

To guard against bias on part of the complaints committee during an inquiry , the DoPT norms provide for a stay on the inquiry until the disciplinary authority takes a decision on allegations of bias received. If allegations of bias are established against one member of the panel, the committee may not be allowed to conduct the inquiry .

Don't soil image of accused until proved guilty: HC

Abhinav Garg, Don't soil image of harassment accused until proved guilty: HC, Nov 27 2016 : The Times of India

New Delhi: Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) is meant to tackle sexual harassment at workplace and help affected women, not to tarnish reputation of an accused until proven guilty, Delhi high court said.

Justice Najmi Waziri in a recent order said, the task of ICC is not to assume guilt of a person accused of harassment but to go by the evidence. Internal complaints panel is mandatory in every organi sation following the Supreme Court's guidelines in Vishakha case on combating sexual harassment. HC quashed an order of ICC where it concluded that an officer of Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) was guilty of sexual harassment. HC found that the “conclusion was not borne out from the facts and cannot be sustained“ granting him relief.

Justice Waziri put on record his disapproval with the manner in which internal committee of IGL went about the task and indicted the officer despite lack of evidence. “The dignity of neither party can be trifled with in an inquiry proceedings,“ the court observed, after it found that inquiry report had not found the officer guilty, yet inferred that he indulged in behaviour that was “more than failure, even flirtatious, in terms of transgressing the lines of acceptable behaviours at a work place.“

HC said there was nothing on record to support the ICC's inference and even the circumstantial evidence was in favour of the accused.

Number of cases reported

Complaints registered: 2011- 14

The Times of India

Dec 20 2014

Rising complaints

Sexual harassment complaints with NCW double in 2 yrs

There has been an over 100% increase in sexual harassment complaints with the National Commission for Women in the last two years. The number of complaints has increased from 167 in 2012 to 336 in 2014 according to government data.

The women and child development ministry (WCD) had enacted the sexual harassment of women at workplace (prevention, prohibition and redressal) act, 2013 which covers all women, irrespective of their age or employment status and protect them against sexual harass ment at workplace both in public and private sector, whether organized or unorganized. There was a 34% increase in registration of complaints in the year after the law was brought. The Commission received 249 complaints related to sexual harassment in 2013. Responding to a question in the Lok Sabha WCD minister Maneka Gandhi said that safety of women were of utmost priority for the Government.“The government is endeavoring to put in place effective mechanisms to provide safe environment for women, she said.

The government has also introduced the Criminal Law (Amendment), Act 2013 has been enacted for making the punishment more stringent for offences like rape. Provision for increased penalty for gang rape and causing injury to the victim resulting her to remain in a vegetative state have been made.

2013-15: Harassment in Delhi’s universities

The Times of India, Nov 26 2015

51 harassment cases in 3 years at JNU

The Jawaharlal Nehru University reported the maximum number of sexual harassment cases at 51, with over 100 cases across 16 university and educational institutions in the capital since 2013. The cases were reported to the internal complaints committees (ICC). Out of the 101 cases reported to committees, six are pending. The DCW said most cases across the universities were resolved through settlements. “We got data from all universities except DU whose registrar has been summoned on November 30,“ said DCW chairperson, Swati Maliwal.

Sexual harassment at work: 526 cases in '14

Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013

The Times of India, Aug 08 2015

About 526 cases of sexual harassment at workplace were reported by women in 2014, the government has said. Of these, 57 cases were reported in office premises and 469 were registered at other places related to work, minister for women and child development Maneka Gandhi said, quoting NCRB data. She said the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, puts responsibility on the appropriate government to monitor its implementation and maintain data on the number of cases filed and disposed of and there was no centralized mechanism to collect such data.