The Bombay high court on Tuesday said that companies and offices must create a grievance redressal mechanism that would look into sexual harassment complaints filed by women.
The Bombay high court on Tuesday said that companies and offices must create a grievance redressal mechanism that would look into sexual harassment complaints filed by women. While passing an order on a petition filed by a woman accusing her superior of harassing her, the court further said companies should deal with such matters “seriously, confidentially and expeditiously.”
The court also has advised companies to arrange awareness programmes in offices, so women are made aware of their rights, at the same time informing men of the consequences harassment would invite.
The creation of the complaint redressal mechanism had been laid down in The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. -"In the past, such behaviour would be ignored and termed part of the work culture. It was even said that men may have said or done things inadvertently. However, now all organisations must change with times. Any misconduct against women employees must be dealt with most sternly,” the court said.
“The number of women working in India has increased. Women are holding important posts at workplaces and employers must create a safe environment for women to protect them from sexual harassment,” the court said.
A division bench of Justice V.M. Kanade and justice Swapana Joshi was hearing a petition filed by a woman who alleged that the general manager (GM) of her company had sexually harassed her for 11 months.
According to her petition, she had registered a complaint against the general manager to the company’s CEO and managing director, but no action had been taken against him.
Following a second complaint, the top bosses had constituted an internal complaint committee (ICC) and directed it to conduct an inquiry and file a report. The woman showed the panel 25 such incidents where she had been sexually abused by the general manager. The ICC then submitted its report to the top management, who issued a final order penalising the accused under the sexual harassment act of 2013 and the company service rule. Thereafter, the accused was transferred to Chennai and demoted to two ranks lower. The woman, however, not satisfied with the punishment, then filed a writ petition at the high court. On Tuesday, the court refused to increase the punishment saying the company punished him properly.
