Tamil Nadu Advocate General Forms ICC to Probe Sexual Harassment Complaints at Madras High Court
The move follows a recent complaint of sexual harassment filed by a lawyer against a senior law officer at the High Court
Tamil Nadu's Advocate General, R Shunmugasundaram, has taken a proactive step in addressing sexual harassment concerns by establishing an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC). This move follows a complaint of sexual harassment filed by a lawyer against a senior law officer at the Madras High Court.
Upon receiving the complaint, the Advocate General invoked Section 4 of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act to form the ICC. The committee, established through an order on November 23, is comprising the following members:
- Senior Advocate R Vagai - Presiding Officer
- Additional Advocate General-1 of Tamil Nadu Haja Nazirudeen - Member
- Special Government Pleader S Mythereye Chandru - Member
- Additional Public Prosecutor GV Kasthuri - Member
- Vidhya Reddy of TULIR (a non-profit combating sexual abuse) - Member
- Deputy Director in the office of the AG, T Dharaneeswaran - Member-Secretary
The notification emphasizes that individuals can forward sexual harassment complaints against law officers to the Member-Secretary. The committee will then review and address the matters brought to their attention. To facilitate this process, the notification includes the contact details of the Member-Secretary, who can be reached via email (dd.hc@tn.gov.in) or telephone (044-29550283/284).