New Delhi: The committee set up in the Supreme Court to deal with instances of sexual harassment within its precincts has received two complaints from two women lawyers since its inception in November 2013.
"Both the complaints are pending disposal," said the Supreme Court Gender Sensitization and Internal Complaints Committee (GSICC), in its annual report which was made public today in the apex court website.
The report has not disclosed the names of the alleged offenders.
It said the statement of one of the complainants was video recorded by its three-member internal sub-committee and recording of statement of the other woman lawyer was deferred on her request.
The report said that GSICC was constituted on November 26 last year with an object to fulfil an important function of sensitizing the public on gender issues and to address complaints made with regard to sexual harassment in the precincts of the Supreme Court.
"In the First Meeting of GSICC held on December 9, 2013, an Internal Sub-Committee of three members was constituted in terms of Clause 9 (1) of the said Regulations. The three members are Indu Malhotra, Senior Advocate, L Nageshwar Rao, Senior Advocate and Bharti Ali, co-director of HAQ, an NGO.
"Two complaints received by the GSICC from aggrieved women lawyers have been submitted to the Internal Sub-Committee. The Internal Sub-Committee initiated the process of examining the two complaints.
Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam had formed GSICC which is headed by the Supreme Court's woman judge, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, and has six other female members.
There are two members who are outsiders and not connected with the apex court in any manner.
The panel is in consonance with the guidelines laid down by apex court in its judgement in Vishaka case for dealing with complaints of sexual harassment at workplace.
Under the guidelines, it is required that the panel has a majority of female members and two members of civil society nominated by the Chief Justice of India.
The committee includes three male members-- Justice Madan B Lokur, sitting apex court judge, senior advocate L Nageswara Rao and Prof Dr G Mohan Gopal, Director of Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, who is the nominee of the CJI and is an outsider.
The women members are senior advocate Indu Malhotra, advocate Bina Madhavan (representative of Supreme Court Bar Association), B Sunita Rao (representative of Supreme Court advocates-on-record Association), Madhu Chauhan, (representative of Supreme Court Clerks Association) and Bharti Ali (Co-Director, HAQ : Centre for Child Rights, New Delhi) has been appointed as a nominee of the CJI and is an outsider.
Rachna Gupta, Additional Registrar, is the member Secretary of the committee.
The Supreme Court in October had put on its website the guidelines framed to deal with sexual harassment complaints within its precincts.
As per the notification on "The Gender Sensitisation & Sexual Harassment of Women at the Supreme Court of India (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal), Regulations, 2013" "aggrieved woman means, in relation to the Supreme Court, any female, of any age, whether employed or not, who claims to have been subjected to any act of sexual harassment by any person in the Supreme Court of India precincts but does not include any female who is already governed by the Supreme Court service regulations."
NEWS Link:- http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/sc-sexual-harassment-panel-gets-2-complaints-since-nov-2013_908191.html#.Uuyp81S_9RY.blogger
The report has not disclosed the names of the alleged offenders.
It said the statement of one of the complainants was video recorded by its three-member internal sub-committee and recording of statement of the other woman lawyer was deferred on her request.
The report said that GSICC was constituted on November 26 last year with an object to fulfil an important function of sensitizing the public on gender issues and to address complaints made with regard to sexual harassment in the precincts of the Supreme Court.
"In the First Meeting of GSICC held on December 9, 2013, an Internal Sub-Committee of three members was constituted in terms of Clause 9 (1) of the said Regulations. The three members are Indu Malhotra, Senior Advocate, L Nageshwar Rao, Senior Advocate and Bharti Ali, co-director of HAQ, an NGO.
"Two complaints received by the GSICC from aggrieved women lawyers have been submitted to the Internal Sub-Committee. The Internal Sub-Committee initiated the process of examining the two complaints.
Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam had formed GSICC which is headed by the Supreme Court's woman judge, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, and has six other female members.
There are two members who are outsiders and not connected with the apex court in any manner.
The panel is in consonance with the guidelines laid down by apex court in its judgement in Vishaka case for dealing with complaints of sexual harassment at workplace.
Under the guidelines, it is required that the panel has a majority of female members and two members of civil society nominated by the Chief Justice of India.
The committee includes three male members-- Justice Madan B Lokur, sitting apex court judge, senior advocate L Nageswara Rao and Prof Dr G Mohan Gopal, Director of Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, who is the nominee of the CJI and is an outsider.
The women members are senior advocate Indu Malhotra, advocate Bina Madhavan (representative of Supreme Court Bar Association), B Sunita Rao (representative of Supreme Court advocates-on-record Association), Madhu Chauhan, (representative of Supreme Court Clerks Association) and Bharti Ali (Co-Director, HAQ : Centre for Child Rights, New Delhi) has been appointed as a nominee of the CJI and is an outsider.
Rachna Gupta, Additional Registrar, is the member Secretary of the committee.
The Supreme Court in October had put on its website the guidelines framed to deal with sexual harassment complaints within its precincts.
As per the notification on "The Gender Sensitisation & Sexual Harassment of Women at the Supreme Court of India (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal), Regulations, 2013" "aggrieved woman means, in relation to the Supreme Court, any female, of any age, whether employed or not, who claims to have been subjected to any act of sexual harassment by any person in the Supreme Court of India precincts but does not include any female who is already governed by the Supreme Court service regulations."
NEWS Link:- http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/sc-sexual-harassment-panel-gets-2-complaints-since-nov-2013_908191.html#.Uuyp81S_9RY.blogger
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