NEW DELHI, 12 May: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Centre and the state governments to undertake a time bound exercise to verify whether sexual harassment committees have been constituted in all ministries and the departments.
The Supreme court said there are serious lapses in the enforcement of the 2013 Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Act.
A bench of Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli said an improperly constituted sexual harassment panel would be an impediment in conducting an inquiry at the workplace, as envisaged under the statute and the rules.
The Supreme court said it will be equally counterproductive to have an ill prepared committee conduct a half-baked inquiry that can lead to serious consequences like imposition of major penalties on a delinquent employee.
“The Union of India, all state governments and union territories are directed to undertake a time bound exercise to verify as to whether all the concerned ministries, departments, government organizations, authorities, public sector undertakings, institutions, bodies, etc. have constituted ICCs/LCs/ICs, as the case may be and that the composition of the said Committees are strictly in terms of the provisions of the PoSH Act,” the bench said.
“It shall be ensured that necessary information regarding the constitution and composition of the committees, details of the e-mail IDs and contact numbers of the designated persons, the procedure prescribed for submitting an online complaint, as also the relevant rules, regulations and internal policies are made readily available on the website of the concerned authority/ functionary/ organisation/institution/body, as the case may be,” the bench said, adding the information furnished shall also be updated from time to time.
The Supreme court’s direction came while hearing a plea filed by Aureliano Fernandes, a former head of department at Goa University, challenging an order of the Bombay High Court regarding allegations of sexual harassment against him.
The high court had dismissed his plea against an order of the Executive Council of Goa University (Disciplinary Authority) which dismissed him from services and disqualified him from future employment.
The Supreme Court set aside the high court order noting procedural lapses in inquiry proceedings and violation of principles of natural justice.
Issuing a slew of directions, the top court said similar exercise shall be undertaken by all the statutory bodies of professionals at the apex level and the state level (including those regulating doctors, lawyers, architects, chartered accountants, cost accountants, engineers, bankers and other professionals), by universities, colleges, training centres and educational institutions and by government and private hospitals/nursing homes.
It directed the National Legal Services Authority(NALSA) and the State Legal Services Authorities (SLSAs) to develop modules to conduct workshops and organise awareness programmes to sensitise stakeholders and adolescent groups.
“The National Judicial Academy and the State Judicial Academies shall include in their annual calendars, orientation programmes, seminars and workshops for capacity building of members of the ICCs/LCs/ICs established in the High Courts and District Courts and for drafting Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to conduct an inquiry under the Act and Rules.
The top court directed the Centre and all states and Union Territories to file their affidavits within eight weeks for reporting compliances. (PTI)
