The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Union of India on a petition seeking secure working conditions for members of the Internal Complaints Committees set up under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013.
The Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Friday sought the response of the Union Ministries of Women & Child Development and Corporate Affairs on the plea seeking declaration of ICC members working in private sector as ‘public servants’.
The ICCs set up under the PoSH Act are committees endowed with quasi-judicial powers similar to civil courts, which are required to conduct impartial inquiries into sexual harassment cases and provide unbiased recommendations to employers.
The petition has been filed by former corporate executive and former ICC member Janaki Chaudhari, along with Olga Tellis, a journalist whose petition on the plight of pavement dwellers had led to the Supreme Court’s 1985 landmark verdict on the fundamental right to shelter.
The plea contended that ICC members in the private sector have not been provided with sufficient safeguards to enable them to act without fear and favour while conducting inquiries into allegations of sexual harassment.
While dealing with sexual harassment complaints, ICCs sometimes had to deliver verdicts that may run counter to the commercial interests of the company to which the parties belonged. Undue pressure may be exerted on ICC members by the company, making their work environment unsafe.
The ICC members dealing with sexual harassment complaints in private workplaces also risked having their services arbitrarily terminated if they did not give rulings favourable to the company, it added.
The plea sought directions to the Union government to declare ICC members working in private sector as public servants, to ensure their service conditions were at par with the protection enjoyed by public-sector ICC members.
It said the right to a safe environment extended not only to victims of sexual harassment but also to the ICC officers tasked with the statutory duty to pass orders against sexual harassment at the workplace.
In said in order to discharge such duties, ICC Members must be able to act without fear or favour.
Noting that ICC members in the government sector had a greater degree of job security compared to ICC members in the private sector, the plea termed this as a ‘discriminatory’ approach.
Filed through Advocate Munawwar Naseem and drawn by Advocate Abha Singh, the petition further sought remedial measures over lack of grievance redressal mechanism for ICC member.
It also sought the establishment of a commission to review the current deficiencies in the PoSH Act with regard to the protection of ICC members.
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The Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Friday sought the response of the Union Ministries of Women & Child Development and Corporate Affairs on the plea seeking declaration of ICC members working in private sector as ‘public servants’.
The ICCs set up under the PoSH Act are committees endowed with quasi-judicial powers similar to civil courts, which are required to conduct impartial inquiries into sexual harassment cases and provide unbiased recommendations to employers.
The petition has been filed by former corporate executive and former ICC member Janaki Chaudhari, along with Olga Tellis, a journalist whose petition on the plight of pavement dwellers had led to the Supreme Court’s 1985 landmark verdict on the fundamental right to shelter.
The plea contended that ICC members in the private sector have not been provided with sufficient safeguards to enable them to act without fear and favour while conducting inquiries into allegations of sexual harassment.
While dealing with sexual harassment complaints, ICCs sometimes had to deliver verdicts that may run counter to the commercial interests of the company to which the parties belonged. Undue pressure may be exerted on ICC members by the company, making their work environment unsafe.
The ICC members dealing with sexual harassment complaints in private workplaces also risked having their services arbitrarily terminated if they did not give rulings favourable to the company, it added.
The plea sought directions to the Union government to declare ICC members working in private sector as public servants, to ensure their service conditions were at par with the protection enjoyed by public-sector ICC members.
It said the right to a safe environment extended not only to victims of sexual harassment but also to the ICC officers tasked with the statutory duty to pass orders against sexual harassment at the workplace.
In said in order to discharge such duties, ICC Members must be able to act without fear or favour.
Noting that ICC members in the government sector had a greater degree of job security compared to ICC members in the private sector, the plea termed this as a ‘discriminatory’ approach.
Filed through Advocate Munawwar Naseem and drawn by Advocate Abha Singh, the petition further sought remedial measures over lack of grievance redressal mechanism for ICC member.
It also sought the establishment of a commission to review the current deficiencies in the PoSH Act with regard to the protection of ICC members.
The post appeared first on .