Background:
- Following the #MeToo campaign on social media, Union Government has recently announced its plan to set up a panel of judges to look into the legal and institutional framework to curb sexual harassment at workplaces.
- However, as early as 2013, the Justice J.S. Verma Committee on gender laws, recommended sweeping changes to the Sexual Harassment at the Workplace Bill. The panel was formed in the aftermath of the December 16 Nirbhaya gangrape in 2012 which submitted its report in 2013.
- The Committee termed the Sexual Harassment Bill “unsatisfactory” and said it did not reflect the spirit of the Vishakha guidelines — framed by the Supreme Court in 1997.
- An internal complaints committee (ICC) under the law would be “counter-productive” as dealing with such complaints in-house could discourage women from filing complaints.
Recommendations by Verma Panel Justice J.S. Verma Committee:
- Form State-level employment tribunal to adjudicate all complaints, instead of an ICC.
- Tribunal should be appointed by a collegium headed by the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court.
- It should comprise two retired judges with at least one of them being a woman, two eminent sociologists and one social activist in the field of gender-based discrimination.
- To ensure speedy disposal of complaints, the tribunal should not function as a civil court but may choose its own procedure to deal with each complaint.
- Any “unwelcome behaviour” should be seen from the subjective perception of the complainant, thus broadening the scope of the definition of sexual harassment.
- The time-limit of three months to file a complaint should be done away with and a complainant should not be transferred without her consent.
- To encourage women to file complaints, it opposed penalising women for false complaints.
- An employer could be held liable if he or she facilitated sexual harassment and permitted an environment where sexual misconduct becomes widespread and systemic.
