Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Dec 5: High Court has held that the complaint under sexual harassment at work place after expiry of statutory period is not maintainable and quashed it.
Justice Javed Iqbal Wani while allowing the plea of one Mohammad Altaf Bhat challenging therein the complaint made against him by his colleague alleging therein sexual assault on her by the petitioner said the complaint relating to the incident has been filed more than one year and five months from the date of alleged incident as such the same is not maintainable.
The counsel Tasaduq Khawaja appearing for the petitioner-Bhat while making his submissions about the facts of the case contended that the complaint filed by the victim under the provisions of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act on October, 16 2017, in respect of the alleged incident referred in the complaint dated 25th of April, 2016, could not have been taken cognizance of by the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) in view of Section 9 (1) proviso 2 which envisages that an aggrieved woman may make a complaint in writing of sexual harassment at workplace to the Internal Committee within a period of 3 months from the date of incident.
Court quashed the complaint and the recommendations made therein by the ICC against the petitioner-Bhat citing that the complaint had been filed after a delay of more than one year and five months from the date of the alleged incident.
“…and that subsequent to the filing of reply by the petitioner before the ICC against the complaint, the ICC framed a report in the complaint on 25th of February 2021, without giving any opportunity to him to defend the case set up against him and made a recommendation of imposing of a fine of Rs 1 lakh upon him to be payable to respondent 4 (victim) besides initiation of an action for misconduct against the petitioner herein”, read the judgment.
The court after perusal of the record said, admittedly the complaint filed is much beyond the period prescribed for filing such complaint under Section 9 of the Act of 2013 and under these circumstances, such indisputably could not have been either entertained or else taken cognizance of by the ICC and dealt with thereafter.
“Having held the complaint in question non-maintainable and proceedings initiated thereon invalid, the rest of the grounds urged by the petitioner in the instant petition against the complaint inasmuch as the proceedings conducted thereon by the ICC including the recommendations made thereof pale into insignificance and need not be adverted to”, Justice Wani added.
The court with these facts deemed it appropriate in the first instance to address the preliminary objections raised by appearing counsel for the petitioner, to the maintainability of the complaint before the ICC beyond the period of limitation prescribed under Section 9 of the Act of 2013.
“The instant petition accordingly is allowed and consequently the complaint dated 25th of April, 2016 filed by responded 4 against the petitioner before the ICC, along with recommendations made thereon by the ICC shall stand quashed”, the court concluded.
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