Harassment At Workplace

 

 

 

 

By Adv. R. S. Agrawal 

 

THROUGH the latest Judgement of the Supreme Court regarding implementation of the law regarding harassment of women at workplace, delivered on October 19, 2023, Justice S. Ravindra Bhat (since retired) and Justice Dipankar Datta have, in the case – Initiatives for Inclusion Foundation and Another v. Union of India and others, issued 17 directions (under relevant heads) to ensure the effective implementation of the POSH Act, and render it workable. The writ- petitioner organisation approached the Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution, seeking issuance of appropriate orders directing the respondents – Union Government, and each State /UT Government-to take steps for implementing the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 read with the Rules framed in the same year-POSH Act and Rules. A. Coordination between Union Government and State/UT Governments: (I) The women and Child Development Department of each State/UT through its Principal Secretary, should consider indentifying a ‘nodal person’ within the Department to oversee and aid in coordination as contemplated under the POSH Act. This person would also be able to coordinate with the Union Government on matters relating to this Act and its implementation. (ii) Each State/UT Government is to submit a consolidated report of its compliance with the directions given (below) to the Union Government within 8 weeks.

 

The Union Government has been directed to consolidate the various reports, identify any lapses in the compliance by the State and try to remedy it, before filing a consolidated affidavit of compliance- detailing the State’s compliance and the Union Government’s action taken in regard to the direction within 12 weeks from the date of this judgement. B. Appointment of Public Authorities: (iii) The said Principal Secretary will personally ensure appointment of a district officer in each district within their territorial jurisdiction as contemplated under section 5 within four weeks from the date of this judgement. (iv) Thereafter, each appointed district officer (a) must in compliance of section 6(2) appoint nodal officers in every block, taluka and tehsil in rural or tribal area and ward or municipality in the urban area; (b) must constitute a LC, as contemplated under sections 6 and 7 of the Act; and (c) ensure the contact details of these nodal officers, and the LCs shall be forwarded to the nodal person within the State Government Department of women and Child Development within 6 weeks from the date of this judgement. (v) Thereafter, a circular /bulletin containing names of all district officers and their contact details (phone, address and email), along with a district wise chart of the various nodal officers and their contact details must be uploaded on the department’s website (or in the absence of one, on the main State Government Website (in a conspicuous location, along with a compiled version of the Act, Rules, and simple charts /explainers on the basics of the Act within six weeks from the date of this judgement.

 

C. Amendments and gaps in Rules for the State to fill: (vi) The Union Government ought to consider amending the Rules, so as to operationalise section 26 of the Act, by recognizing a reporting authority, and /or a fine collecting authority. This direction must be read in the light of the role of district officer with regards to annual compliance reports and the penalty regime contemplated in the Act and resulting lacunae in the Rules. (vii) The Union Government may also consider amending the Rules so as to identify one Department, and creating a ‘nodal person’ post within the said Department to be responsible for the coordination required in the implementation of the Act. This will ensure greater uniformity in the implementation of the Act across the country. D. Training and Capacity Building: (viii) The District Officers and LCs should be mandatorily trained regarding their important responsibilities. Given their position in the redressal framework contemplated in the Act, they must first be sensitised to the nature of sexual harassment, the gendered interactions that occur in the workspace, etc. The State Governments, must organise periodic and regular training sessions at the District level which are to be attended by the District Officer, members of the LC and nodal officers. E. Larger efforts towards awareness: (ix) In furtherance of section 24, the State/UT Governments.

 

And Union Government have been directed to set out the financial resources allocated and or needed to develop educational, Communication and training material for spreading awareness of the provisions of this Act to the public, and formulate orientation and training Programmes as elaborated in direction (viii). The plan of action must form part of the compliance affidavit filed by each State.(x) The District Officers, once nominated by the State have been directed to identify the non-governmental organisations working with women and their protection within the district and to take action pursuant to their duty under section 20(b) for creation of awareness. (xi) The appropriate Government or district officers in question must also undertake effort to spread awareness on the existence of LCs, and make them approachable for the unorganised sector – thus operationalising the horizontal import of this Act. (xii) The modules prepared by NALSA to conduct workshops and organise awareness programmes to sensitise authorities, managements, employers could be used in this regard. (xiii) Union Ministry of Women and Child Development has prepared a Handbook for implementation of POSH Act, which serves as a useful guide for not just employees seeking information, but also more pertinently those who are nominated or appointed as members of the ICs by an employer or of LCs by the District Officer. The SC has directed that a targeted effort be made to share this information with each District Officer, who may in turn, disseminate it to their respective LCs, the nodal officers appointed under section 6(2) and employers, who constitute their own ICCs. F. Annual Compliance Reports (xiv) The State/UT Governments have been directed to to create a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) including the procedure and timliness for this process, so as to enable it to, in turn, comply with section 23 of the Act, that is monitoring ,implementation and maintaining data.

 

G. Monitoring of Internal Committees (ICs) and compliance by employers: (xv) The directions given in the judgement of the case –Aureliano Fernandes v. State of Goa and Others (Judgment of May 12, 2023 in Civil Appeal No. 2482/2014, address most specifically, the constitution of ICs in public establishments such as bodies governing professional associations etc. (xvi) Similarly, the Supreme Court has issued directions to hospitals, nursing homes, sports institutes, stadiums, sports complex, or competition or games venues to establish ICs and report compliance as per the duties under this Act. (xvii) With direction, the SC has pointed out that a direction to all private sector workplaces can be passed under section 2(o)(ii), once the District Officer is able to discern an exhaustive list of entities. The matter would be listed in the first week of February, 2024 “for further compliance”.