Filing a false complaint of sexual harassment may prove dearly for the employee

Filing a false complaint of sexual harassment may prove dearly for the employee

                                       Anita Suresh Vs Union of India & Ors.

                                (High Court of Delhi; Decided on 09.07.2019)

Brief Facts: The Petitioner challenged the order of the ICC (Internal Complaints Committee), which gave the benefit of doubt to the accused and recommended relocation of both the parties from their present posting.

The ICC reached this conclusion after making an inquiry over the written complaint of the Petitioner, which alleged sexual harassment by the Respondent on 7^th July 2011. The said complaint alleged that:-

(i)      "Yesterday when I was seated with my colleagues on the 1st floor of the building, Shri. Verma came and commented indicating sexual advances. I cannot for the reasons of modesty bring on papers the filthy language he uses for me."

(ii)     "Yesterday in the presence of my staff and other members he asked me to come alone to check the shortcomings of the male toilet when nobody is there and I will follow you soon."

Petitioner’s Arguments: Petitioner submitted that the findings of the Committee are erroneous and unjustified. It is proved by sufficient evidence that Respondent misbehaved and made attempts of sexual advances against the petitioner on 07th July 2011 mentioned in the written complaint on 08th July 2011. Respondent pressurized the petitioner to withdraw her complaint whereupon a warning was issued to him on 04th November 2011. The transfer of both the parties to different places was not a justified penalty to the Respondent.

Respondent’s Arguments: Submitted that allegations of sexual harassment are false. He stated that he brought the absence of soap in the male toilet to the notice of the petitioner. He further stated that his remarks were misinterpreted and taken totally out of context.

The Petitioner made a complaint against him due to grudge which was the result of certain official work disposed of by him in the petitioner’s absence.

Court’s Judgment: The Court observed that the Petitioner’s complaint contains two incidents out of which the first incident was in presence of the petitioner’s colleagues whereas the second incident was in presence of staffs and other members. During the inquiry proceedings, the petitioners could not give the names of any person present at the time of the incidents. The Petitioner was shown the record of the staff persons present on duty on the date of the incident but still, she could not recollect the names of any colleague/staff member. It is not believable that the Petitioner could not remember the names of any colleague/staff member.

The court also noted that the petitioner has not mentioned the alleged comments of the Respondent in the complaint on the ground of modesty. The petitioner did not even disclose the alleged comments before the Committee. No reason or justification has been given by the petitioner for not disclosing the same before the Committee. The entire complaint of the petitioner appears to be false and has been filed with some ulterior motive.

Further, the Court while going through the past service record of the Petitioner, noted that she had been punished for negligence in duty and as a punishment she was Censured once and another occasion, she was found to be guilty of not following the reasonable order of her superiors and exhibited a lack of devotion towards duty and as a result, she had to face the penalty of reduction of pay for the period of one year. By noting all these things, the court observed that the Petitioner did not have a clean service record.

Therefore, the court dismissed the Writ Petition with the cost of Rs.50,000/- and gave liberty to the employer to initiate appropriate action against the Petitioner for filing a false complaint against the Respondent in accordance with the law.

Analysis: The fact that the Petitioner did not mention the comments alleged to have been made by the Respondent both in the Complaint as well as before the ICC have became a crucial point in turning the table against her. The past record of the employee also played an important role in deciding the case. Here, the ICC seems to have taken a lenient view by merely transferring the Petitioner. However, the Petitioner, despite having a weak case (weak complaint) and blemish service record, went on to file a Writ Petition before High Court appealing against ICC’s order, which proved very dearly to her.

Takeaway Points for Employee & Employer

What should the Employee do in case of sexual harassment at the workplace?

●   Need to ensure that the written complaint has all the details like the name of the person(s) (including designation) who were present when the incident happened along with date and time.

● Need to ensure  that the written complaint has detail as to what the Respondent did  (If you feel it is not explainable to due to modesty issue, then you should definitely explain it before the ICC)

●  Need to know the pros and cons of filing an appeal against the order of the ICC by analyzing the order of ICC.

What should the Employer do to make the workplace free from sexual harassment?

●  Need to make sure employees including managers of the respective branch and regional managers are aware of what constitutes Sexual Harassment and what are the consequences of indulging in such an act and also what are the consequences of making sexual harassment complaints with ulterior motives. This can be done through arranging a POSH workshop periodically.

Case Details:

Case No: W.P. (C) 5114 of 2015

Citation: MANU/DE/2191/2019

………………………………….

#CaseAnalysis

#POSH #Sexual harassment #workplace #Employee #Employer #ICC

What about the ladies who's don't have voice?

women's rights

A poor lady's family members (father and her five elder brothers) denied her rights in immovable property (ancestral property) by stating that "you are not entitled to any right since you are a woman" and were planning to sell that property without her consent. Therefore, I issued a notice to Sub-Registrar, her Father, and the person who had given advance amount for buying the said property stressing that she has equal rights along with her father and brother. After receiving my notice, the Sub-Registrar temporarily stopped registration. Then her family members approached her and promised her that she will be given her due by way of money once registration is done and asked her to sign in the sale deed at Sub-Registrar's Office. Believing their words she signed. However, when she came out of the office, one of her brother slapped her. She tried to approach Police but was stopped by her husband. Now, her property rights denied.

She was beaten by her elder brother just for demanding her legal rights over the ancestral property. Due to family pressure, she is not coming out to make a police complaint . Somehow, I wanted assist the helpless woman and therefore, I  contacted the office of the Director, National Commission for Scheduled Caste, Tamil Nadu since the said woman belongs to Scheduled Caste community. However, they also refused to help by stating they can not do anything when both parties are from the Scheduled Caste community.

Then, I called office of the Commission for Women, Tamil Nadu but in vain. They have also washed their hands off by stating that the said lady needs to make complaint. There is no system to help the ladies like this, who despite having legal rights, they do not able to raise voice against injustice owing to patriarchal mindset of family members . There is nobody to fight for poor ladies whose voices are suppressed by their families. I don't know what is the purpose of having the Women Commission then?

  

No public authority comes forward to protect woman who are afraid to raise voice against the injustice met to them due to family pressure. Even today, there are thousands of such ladies in rural areas who don't have the means to make even a complaint before the authorities. After all rural woman especially from weaker section of the society does not luxuries like #metoo movement even to  enable  them to express their sufferings and grievances.

#women Women's Rights #ruralwomen #metoo #rights #equality #womencommission