Woman fined Rs. 50,000 by Delhi HC for filing a false sexual harassment plea
July 17, 2019A female petitioner has been fined Rs. 50,000 by the Delhi High Court for filing a false petition of sexual harassment. The petitioner, who is an Assistant Director in ESI Corporation based out in Gurgaon, had alleged sexual harassment by one of her office colleagues.
In the present case, the petitioner had made a complaint mentioning two incidents stating that the defendant came and commented indicating sexual advances while she was sitting with her colleagues on the 1st floor of the office building. Further, she had stated that the defendant in the presence of her staff and other members had asked her to come alone to check the defects in the male washroom when no one was around and told her that he will also join her in the washroom.
In furtherance of the complaint made by the petitioner, an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) was established to investigate into the matter which examined the petitioner, the accused and eight other eyewitnesses. However, the ICC, while giving benefit of the doubt to the accused on not being able to establish the allegation, recommended relocation of the petitioner and the accused from their postings.
The petitioner then filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court in which her lawyer contended that the findings of the ICC are not justified and are incorrect. The High Court has stated that irrespective of the petitioner’s statement that the alleged act was done in the presence of her colleagues, the petitioner was unable to recollect the names of the said colleagues even when she was shown the relevant documents related to the staff members present on the day of the incident. Moreover, the eyewitnesses examined by the ICC also did not support the petitioner’s version of the story.
It has further stated that the petitioner has not mentioned the exact comments made by the accused and various instances have pointed out that the petitioner did not have a clean service record. Thus, the Court, while ordering the petitioner to deposit a sum of Rs. 50,000 to the Delhi Bar Association Welfare Trust, has dismissed the petition in absence of any merit in the claims made by the petitioner.
Follow the POSH compliance to protect your company against sexual harassment complaints or find a criminal lawyer to file your sexual harassment case, with LawRato.com.