End sexual harassment of working women: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Wednesday made it mandatory for the Centre, the state governments, their undertakings and the private sector to take steps to end sexual harassment of working women.

Decrying the increasing cases of sexual harassment of working women, the court, comprising Chief Justice J S Verma, Justice Sujata V Manohar and Justice B N Kirpal, issued a set of guidelines to be followed by employers. The bench was disposing of a batch of public interest petitions filed by Vishaka and several other social activists and non-governmental organisations.

The judges directed the Centre and the states to legislate laws to prevent sexual harassment of women working in the government or the private sector.

The court said it would be the duty of every employer to prevent sexual harassment, to make provisions for resolution, settlement or prosecution for acts of sexual harassment, and to take appropriate measures to prevent such acts.

The judges said the employer's rules and regulations relating to conduct and discipline of employees should include prohibition of sexual harassment of women, besides providing for appropriate penalties against the offenders.

The court noted that the immediate cause for filing the petition was the alleged gang rape of a social worker in a Rajasthan village. ''The incident is the subject matter of a separate criminal action,'' the court said.

''The incident reveals the hazards to which a working woman may be exposed, the depravity to which sexual harassment can degenerate and the urgency for safeguards by an alternative mechanism in the absence of legislative measures,'' the court observed.

The court pointed out that each such incident resulted in violation of the fundamental rights of ''gender equality'' and the ''right to life and liberty''. ''It is a clear violation of the rights under articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution,'' the court added.