About Credibility of Internal Committee Members
Some judgments of our Hon'ble High Courts on the malfunctioning of a few Internal Committees have raised eyebrows and remain a cause of concern. The judiciary found glaring procedural inadequacies, loopholes, and gross errors of judgment on the part of these IC members who, in a way, were reprimanded for dereliction of duties.
Key Duties of IC Members
The most important duty of IC members, out of their 24 duties envisaged under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal) Act 2013 and SHWW (P, P & R) Rules gazetted on 9.12.2013, is:
- To commence, conduct, and conclude a fair, just, and proper enquiry into sexual harassment complaints forwarded/referred to it by the employer of the respondent;
- To ascertain the facts/truth in accordance with the principles of natural justice and the procedures prescribed for such internal enquiries; and
- Submit an enquiry report with definite and conclusive findings so that the employer/punishing authority can award proportionate punishment as per the service rules applicable in the establishment/institution.
Consequences of Non-compliance
The erring Internal Committees under reference failed to follow laid down laws and procedures, and their faults led to:
1. Utter dissatisfaction on the part of either the aggrieved-woman-complainant or the employee-respondent,
2. Distrust for IC members, loss of credibility, and
3. Above all, very costly litigation;
4. A dent on the reputation and goodwill of the employer/management was no less painful.
Preventing Future Embarrassments & Costly Litigation
Future embarrassments and costly litigation can be and must be avoided by taking measures including:
- Training IC members to know about their 24 legally-bound duties and learning how to discharge their duties faithfully and properly without arbitrariness, bias, fear, or favor, internal or external pressures, threats whatsoever; and
- Applying lessons learned; and
- Updating oneself through refresher workshops and judicial pronouncements from time to time; and
- Reinforcing learned lessons through IC review meetings at regular intervals.
IC members nominated from amongst employees often fail to perform their legal duties and lose credibility when they do not know what to do and how to do it. In such situations, the IC may seemingly exist on paper, and as a result, the aggrieved-women-complainant may opt for other redressal routes such as lodging FIR, civil or criminal cases in courts, or registering SH complaints online via She-Box.
The Role of the Internal Committee
The Internal Committee is an independent legal entity/institution vested with the powers of civil courts, and its definite and conclusive findings and recommendations are "final and binding." Hence, IC members need to be thorough and well-versed with their 24 legal duties upon their nomination and earn trust from all concerned.
Some judgments of our Hon'ble High Courts on the malfunctioning of a few Internal Committees have raised eyebrows and remain a cause of concern. The judiciary found glaring procedural inadequacies, loopholes, and gross errors of judgment on the part of these IC members who, in a way, were reprimanded for dereliction of duties.
Key Duties of IC Members
The most important duty of IC members, out of their 24 duties envisaged under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal) Act 2013 and SHWW (P, P & R) Rules gazetted on 9.12.2013, is:
- To commence, conduct, and conclude a fair, just, and proper enquiry into sexual harassment complaints forwarded/referred to it by the employer of the respondent;
- To ascertain the facts/truth in accordance with the principles of natural justice and the procedures prescribed for such internal enquiries; and
- Submit an enquiry report with definite and conclusive findings so that the employer/punishing authority can award proportionate punishment as per the service rules applicable in the establishment/institution.
Consequences of Non-compliance
The erring Internal Committees under reference failed to follow laid down laws and procedures, and their faults led to:
1. Utter dissatisfaction on the part of either the aggrieved-woman-complainant or the employee-respondent,
2. Distrust for IC members, loss of credibility, and
3. Above all, very costly litigation;
4. A dent on the reputation and goodwill of the employer/management was no less painful.
Preventing Future Embarrassments & Costly Litigation
Future embarrassments and costly litigation can be and must be avoided by taking measures including:
- Training IC members to know about their 24 legally-bound duties and learning how to discharge their duties faithfully and properly without arbitrariness, bias, fear, or favor, internal or external pressures, threats whatsoever; and
- Applying lessons learned; and
- Updating oneself through refresher workshops and judicial pronouncements from time to time; and
- Reinforcing learned lessons through IC review meetings at regular intervals.
IC members nominated from amongst employees often fail to perform their legal duties and lose credibility when they do not know what to do and how to do it. In such situations, the IC may seemingly exist on paper, and as a result, the aggrieved-women-complainant may opt for other redressal routes such as lodging FIR, civil or criminal cases in courts, or registering SH complaints online via She-Box.
The Role of the Internal Committee
The Internal Committee is an independent legal entity/institution vested with the powers of civil courts, and its definite and conclusive findings and recommendations are "final and binding." Hence, IC members need to be thorough and well-versed with their 24 legal duties upon their nomination and earn trust from all concerned.