Issue for consideration
Writ petitioner sought directions for implementation of the Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 read with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Rules, 2013. Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 – Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Rules, 2013 – Directions issued (under the relevant heads) to ensure the effective implementation of the POSH Act, and render it workable: Held: (A) Coordination between Union Government and State/UT Governments: The Women and Child Development Ministry of every State/UT, through its Principal Secretary, should consider identifying 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; (B) Appointment of Public Authorities: The concerned Principal Secretary of the State/UT Ministry of Women and Child [or any other Department, subject to amendment of the Rules], will personally ensure appointment of a district officer in each district within their territorial jurisdiction, as contemplated under Section 5 – 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 Section 6 and 7 of the Act; and (c) ensure the contact details of these nodal officers, and LCs, shall be forwarded to the nodal person within the State Government Ministry of Women and Child Development – 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; (C) Amendments and gaps in Rules that State must fill: The Union Government ought to consider amending the Rules, so as to operationalise Section 26 of the Act, by recognising a reporting authority, and/or a fine collecting authority – The Union Government may also consider amending the Rules so as to identify one Department (preferably the Women and Child Department), and creating a ‘nodal person’ post within the said Department to be responsible for the coordination required in the implementation of the Act; (D) Training and capacity building: The District Officers and LCs should be mandatorily trained regarding their important responsibilities – Organisation of 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: In furtherance of Section 24, the State/UT Governments, and Union Government are hereby directed to set out the financial resources allocated and or needed, to developing educational, communication and training material for spreading awareness of the provisions of this Act to the public, and formulate orientation and training programmes – The District Officers, once nominated by the State are hereby directed to identify the non-governmental organisations working with women and their protection within the district, and take action pursuant to their duty under Section 20(b) for creation of awareness – 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 unorganized sector-thus operationalizing the horizontal import of this Act – The directions (iv) and (v) passed in Aureliano Fernandes v. State of Goa & Ors. are reiterated – A targeted effort be made to share the Government of India, Handbook on Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (2015) 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 : Due compliance with Section 21(1) and (2), and Section 22, must be undertaken by each District Officer, of the State – The State/UT Governments is hereby directed to create a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) including the procedure, and timelines for this process, so as to enable it to, in turn, comply with Section 23 of the Act, i.e., monitoring implementation and maintaining data; (G) Monitoring of ICs and compliance by employers : The directions passed in Aureliano Fernandes v. State of Goa & Ors. address most specifically, the constitution of ICs-in public establishments [falling broadly within Section 2(o)(i)] and some private establishments-such as bodies governing professional associations, etc.; those directions are hereby reiterated, to avoid multiplicity or overlap of efforts – Similarly, directions are hereby made to hospitals, nursing homes, sports institutes, stadiums, sports complex, or competition or games venues [as defined in Section 2(o)(iii) and (iv)] to establish ICs, and report compliance as per the duties under this Act – The District Officer must be supplied a list of establishments (compiled by the relevant departments of the State/UT Government) that fall within the scope of Section 2(o), so that they may write to them and ensure that they are well versed with the provisions relating to employers, and their duties (including constitution of ICC under Section 4, duties under Section 19, etc.) and are implementing them in letter and spirit. This will also enable collection of annual reports, as contemplated under Section 21 – The consequent direction to all private sector workplaces under Section 2(o)(ii) can be passed once the District Officer is able to discern an exhaustive list of entities. [Para 22] Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 – ‘may’ in s.5 – discussed.
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India.
Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs),
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