The Centre has clarified that the rank of a woman heading a complaints committee is irrelevant when it comes to inquiring into a complaint of sexual harassment against an official.
The note is based on a 2015 Allahabad High Court judgment passed in which the question of the complaint committee chairperson’s rank had arisen. In a note on September 9 to all Ministries and departments, the Ministry of Personnel made it clear that there was no bar on a panel headed by a woman officer junior rank to the suspected or charged officer holding such an inquiry.
Further, to ensure fair inquiry, Ministries/ Departments may also consider transferring the suspect or charged officer to another office to obviate any risk of him using his authority to influence the proceedings of the Complaints Committee, it said. The Centre had formulated a set of comprehensive guidelines on the steps to be taken by sexual harassment committees in June 2015 based on the judgment of the Supreme Court in the Visakha case.
The legality of a committee whose chairperson happens to be junior in rank to the suspect officer came up before the Allahabad High Court in 2015.
The judge had said in that case, “In my opinion, there is nothing in the Scheme of the section which requires the lady member to be senior in rank to the officer against whom the allegations of sexual harassment are brought.”
