Read Time: 10 minutes

Synopsis

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed sweeping reforms in implementing the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (PoSH Act). The judgment, delivered by the bench of Justice R.N. Manjula, came while hearing petitions that exposed glaring gaps in compliance with the law in Tamil Nadu.

The court was hearing cases filed by employees of government-run institutions, who alleged harassment and subsequent victimization for raising their voices. Among the petitioners were employees of a government Ayurvedic college, who accused their colleagues and superiors of harassment. The court found that their complaints were met with retaliatory actions, including suspension and punitive measures, rather than redressal.

Another case involved a woman who faced penalties after filing a harassment complaint against a senior official. Investigations revealed that the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) in her workplace did not adhere to the mandatory requirements under the PoSH Act, such as including an external member.

Justice Manjula noted a “disturbing lack of sensitivity and fairness” in handling sexual harassment cases. The judgment highlighted systemic failures, including:

• Improper ICC Formation: Many workplaces did not constitute ICCs as mandated under the law.
• Low Awareness: Employees, especially in unorganized sectors, were unaware of their rights or how to report harassment.
• Retaliatory Measures: Complainants often faced professional backlash or secondary victimization.
• Underreporting: Despite 19,475 ICCs across Tamil Nadu, only 305 complaints were registered—a figure the court deemed alarmingly low and questioned whether this reflected an actual lack of incidents or a reluctance to report due to systemic discouragement and fear of backlash.

To tackle the issues, court issued a set of sweeping directions to ensure strict compliance with the PoSH Act.

Court also pulled up institutions for fostering hostile work environments, observing that many organizations prioritize protecting alleged perpetrators over addressing grievances.

The judgment also emphasized the importance of gender-sensitive workplaces and warned that systemic flaws were undermining the objectives of the PoSH Act. It also questioned whether current mechanisms were sufficient to create a safe and equitable work environment.

“If a person who is a misogynist and who do not have the sensitivity to handle complaints of sexual harassment in workplace, nothing will improve the work environment. Aggrieved women who make complaints can only imagine a Damocles’ sword hanging on their head,” the court noted, adding that such lapses could not be ignored in workplaces, especially those in essential services.

The key directions for strengthening PoSH Act implementation as issued by the court in larger interest are: 

• Framing of Rules:

  • The Tamil Nadu government must finalize and publish rules for the PoSH Act.
  • The State Women Commission to submit its model draft rules within two weeks for government scrutiny.

• Transparency Measures:

  • Create an official website for Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs), providing details like complaint numbers, resolutions, and actions taken.
  • Develop a dashboard to monitor ICCs’ functioning, member details, and the status of complaints.

• Gender Budget Utilization:

  • Submit reports on the allocation and use of gender budgets in departments and institutions.
  • Assess how funds have improved workplace environments for women and whether gender budget cells are functional.

• Gender Sensitization Programs:

  • Form a technical committee to create training modules and evaluation tools for awareness programs.
  • Consider making gender sensitivity tests mandatory for government employees, competitive exams, and promotions.
  • Include periodic gender sensitivity assessments for managerial and government positions.

• Separate Women Empowerment Department:

  • Examine the feasibility of a distinct department for women empowerment, separate from social welfare.

• Monitoring and Oversight:

  • Empower State and National Women Commissions to monitor PoSH Act implementation and conduct periodic reviews.
  • Establish a registry for external ICC members to ensure fair appointments and prevent misuse.

• Educational Initiatives:

  • Review and enhance gender sensitization programs in schools and colleges.
  • Ensure compliance with student safety guidelines under existing government orders.

• Gender Audit Mechanism:

  • Create gender audit squads to evaluate workplace behavior and recommend corrective actions for suboptimal gender sensitivity.

• Funding Mechanisms:

  • Explore introducing a gender reform surcharge/cess to fund these initiatives.

Further, regarding the specific grievances raised in three petitions, court directed for the first petitioner that the respondents shall file a report within four weeks on the disbursal of salary for the period of suspension, which had been treated as duty. In the second petition, court ordered the continuation and completion of the pending enquiry into allegations against the 4th and 5th respondents, emphasizing that the delay was unwarranted as no court order had restrained the process. Meanwhile, in the third petition, since the petitioner had already received relief through an earlier order, therefore, no further directions were issued.

Case Title: xxx   vs. State and connected matters