VISHAKHA VS STATE OF RAJASTHAN

The Sexual Harassment of Women👩🏻 at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013🇮🇳
Introduction: This Act has been drafted to address sexual harassment at the workplace and creates a mechanism for redressal of complaints. It also provides safeguards against false or malicious charges. Under the Act, which also covers students in schools👧🏻 and colleges, 🏥🏩as well as patients in hospitals, 👩🏻employers🧑🏽‍⚕️ and local authorities will have to set up grievance committees to investigate all complaints.🤦🏻‍♀️
Salient Features
% Sexual harassment includes unwelcome acts 🤷🏼‍♂️or behavior like physical contact🙌🏽👐🏻🫴🏻 and advances, a demand or request for sexual favors😽
of sexual nature.😻
or making sexually colored remarks or showing pornography 🩻and any other unwelcome physical, 🙌🏽verbal 😸or non-verbal conduct🖕🏻
* Aggrieved woman includes all women, irrespective of her age or employment status, whether in the organized or unorganized sectors, public or private 🏥and covers clients, customers and domestic workers as well.
* Workplace include organizations, department, office or branch unit in the public and private sector, organized and unorganized, hospitals, nursing homes, 🧑🏽‍⚕️educational institutions, sports 🤾🏼‍♂️⛹🏼institutes, stadiums, sports complex and any place visited by the employee during the course of employment including transportation (Vishaka guidelines was confined to the traditional office set-up where there is a clear employer-employee relationship).👥
Employee covers regular, temporary, ad hoc, daily wage employees and also includes volunteers.👩🏻
Employer includes the head of the government department,👳🏻‍♂️organization, institution, office, branch or unit, the person responsible for management, supervisions or control of the workplace, and in relation to a domestic worker, the person who benefits from that employment.
* The redressal mechanism is in the form of Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) 🗣️and Local Complaints Committee (LCC).
All workplaces employing ≥ 10 workers are mandated under the Act to constitute an ICC.
The ICC will be a 4 member committee under the Chairpersonship of a senior woman employee 🧑🏻‍🦰and will include 2 👩🏿‍🦰👩🏿‍🦰members from amongst the employees preferably committed to the cause of women or has experience in social work/legal knowledge and includes a third party member (NGO👱🏻‍♀️, etc.as well.
* Complaints from workplaces employing 10 workers or when the complaint is against the employer will be looked into by the
LCC. A District Officer notified under the Act will constitute the LCC at the district level. LCC will also look into complaints from domestic workers.
* A complaint of sexual harassment can be filed within a time limit of 3 months. 🧭This may be extended to another 3 months if the woman can prove that grave circumstances prevented her from doing the same.
The Complaints Committees have the powers of civil courts for gathering evidence.
* The Committee is required to provide for conciliation before initiating an inquiry, if requested by the victim.
* The Committee is required to complete the inquiry within a time period of 90 days. 🕰️On completion of the inquiry, the report is sent to the employer👨🏻‍🦱 or the District Officer, as the case may be, they are mandated to take action on the report within 60 days.👣
* If found guilty, then the Committee can recommend action in accordance with the provision of service rules applicable to the accused. The Committee can also recommend deduction of an appropriate amount from the 💰💵💸salary of the accused or asked to pay the amount. In case the accused fails to pay, District Officer may be asked to recover the amount as an arrear of land revenue.⛺️🏕️
In case the allegation is not ❌proved, then the Committee can write to the employer/District Officer that no action needs to be taken.
In case of malicious or false complaint, the Act provides for penalty according to the Service Rules.
However, this clause has a safeguard in the form of an enquiry prior to establishing the malicious intent.
Also, mere inability to prove the case will not attract penalty under this provision.
* It prohibits ⛔️disclosure of the identity and addresses of the aggrieved woman, 👩🏻respondent and witnesses. However, information regarding the justice secured to any victim of sexual harassment under this Act without disclosing the identity can be disseminated.
* Penalties have been prescribed for employers. Non-compliance with the provisions of the Act is punishable with a fine of up to
* 50,000. Repeated violations may lead to higher penalties and cancellation of license or registration to conduct business.👳🏻‍♂️