Views: What is happened is happened. However, the dignity of the Supreme court should be protected. It the last hope of the people in the country.
In Every work place ,sexual harassment accusation should be dealt with the sexual harassment act(prevention) which is enacted.
There are generally three kind of sexual harassment accusations.
1) Genuine accusation.
This type complaint is real which should be dealt the provisions of laws.
2) Revenge Accusation.
This false is accusation. To do a revenge or personal gain is the sole intention . In sexual harassment prevention act ( workplace ) has some provision to deal with the false accusation. However, the new amended criminal procedure code did not have that kind of provision.
3) Psychological Accusation.
This accusation is due to the illness of the person .A woman who is suffering paranoid
schizophrenia can make sexual allegations as per the experience of the Psychiatrist. In this case both are victims. Only an experienced Psychiatrist can identify this type of accusations. They can behave like normal persons and they can describe the incident with all minute details including with time and date in the believable ways. A south Indian famous psychiatrist wrote a case experience last year in a health magazine. ( With paranoid schizophrenia, ability to think and function in daily life may be better than with other types of schizophrenia. Paranoid schizophrenia is a serious, lifelong condition that can lead to many complications, including suicidal behaviour)
Identify the Genuineness of the Accusation is the main task. The right and identity of the victim and accused should be protected at the investigating stage. The late complains should be dealt with separate category.
Be hopeful that Supreme court with come with some reasonable guidelines to deal with
the procedure of the sexual harassment accusations .
Another SC judge Swatanter Kumar accused of sexual harassment
READ MORE ON » West Bengal Human Rights Commission | West Bengal | Swatanter Kumar | Supreme Court | sexual harassment | SC judge | National Green Tribunal
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has found itself at the centre of a fresh sexual harassment controversy after one of its former judges, Swatanter Kumar, was accused by an intern of making sexual propositions while in office. Kumar, now retired, has vehemently denied the allegations.
In an affidavit, the intern, then a student of West Bengal National University of Judicial Sciences who was interning with the judge in May-June 2011 and working out of his official residence on Delhi's Tughlaq Road, accused Kumar of inappropriate physical contact and also seeking to know if she was willing to travel with him and stay in hotel rooms.
Kumar, who retired from the top court on December 12 and now heads the National Green Tribunal, called the accusations a conspiracy. "At least 20 interns have worked with me. They treat me like a father. These are totally false (allegations)... It is very unfair.
The institution is being damaged and reputation of the judiciary being tarnished. It is some kind of a conspiracy," he told ET.
But the intern in her affidavit, a copy of which is in ET's possession, said the judge had inappropriately touched her lower back on one occasion and kissed her on her shoulder on another, acts she termed "unwelcome physical contact and sexual advances".
The latest revelations put an unflattering spotlight on the Supreme Court which has been rocked by allegations of sexual harassment against another of its judges, AK Ganguly, also levelled by an intern. As the court braces itself to ride out the latest storm, Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising on Friday asked it to act against the former judge.
Speaking on Times NOW, Jaising also announced the intern's intention to challenge the December 5, 2013, decision of the Supreme Court not to entertain any more complaints against retired judges.
This decision was made by the Supreme Court after its three-judge committee named former judge AK Ganguly and concluded that he had indulged in "unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature" towards an intern.
Jaising pointed out that any court decision on the administrative side can be challenged on the judicial side. The challenge is unprecedented because unlike Ganguly, who earlier this month was forced to step down as West Bengal Human Rights Commission chief, the fresh allegation is about an incident that occurred while the accused was a sitting judge.
Ganguly had already retired from the Supreme Court when he is alleged to have made the unwelcome advances to the intern. Ganguly denies the accusations.
But in the new case, the intern was on the Supreme Court roster and was not informally assisting the judge and experts believe the top court may not be able to cite lack of jurisdiction to deal with her complaint.
"This is clearly sexual harassment at the workplace," said Jaising, who had also spearheaded the campaign for justice for the other intern who had leveled allegations against Justice Ganguly.
"This is physical. It is a direct attack," she said. The Supreme Court itself had held that a similar incident of bottom-slapping a woman amounted to outraging the modesty of a woman and had convicted former Punjab cop KPS Gill.
"You expect Supreme Court judges to know what the law is and the code of conduct and ethics to be followed. When you are in a position of power you don't take advantage of a 23-year-old," Jaising said.
The top court, she said, had shown that it could do the honorable thing even if it involves its former brethren in Justice Ganguly's case. "I expect them to rise to the occasion. I would like the Supreme Court to reverse the December 5, 2013, decision," she added. She also said that the case would raise several important propositions of law, including what kind of behaviour was expected by judges towards women and whether the Vishakha guidelines apply to them or not.
In an affidavit, the intern, then a student of West Bengal National University of Judicial Sciences who was interning with the judge in May-June 2011 and working out of his official residence on Delhi's Tughlaq Road, accused Kumar of inappropriate physical contact and also seeking to know if she was willing to travel with him and stay in hotel rooms.
Kumar, who retired from the top court on December 12 and now heads the National Green Tribunal, called the accusations a conspiracy. "At least 20 interns have worked with me. They treat me like a father. These are totally false (allegations)... It is very unfair.
The institution is being damaged and reputation of the judiciary being tarnished. It is some kind of a conspiracy," he told ET.
But the intern in her affidavit, a copy of which is in ET's possession, said the judge had inappropriately touched her lower back on one occasion and kissed her on her shoulder on another, acts she termed "unwelcome physical contact and sexual advances".
The latest revelations put an unflattering spotlight on the Supreme Court which has been rocked by allegations of sexual harassment against another of its judges, AK Ganguly, also levelled by an intern. As the court braces itself to ride out the latest storm, Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising on Friday asked it to act against the former judge.
Speaking on Times NOW, Jaising also announced the intern's intention to challenge the December 5, 2013, decision of the Supreme Court not to entertain any more complaints against retired judges.
This decision was made by the Supreme Court after its three-judge committee named former judge AK Ganguly and concluded that he had indulged in "unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature" towards an intern.
Jaising pointed out that any court decision on the administrative side can be challenged on the judicial side. The challenge is unprecedented because unlike Ganguly, who earlier this month was forced to step down as West Bengal Human Rights Commission chief, the fresh allegation is about an incident that occurred while the accused was a sitting judge.
Ganguly had already retired from the Supreme Court when he is alleged to have made the unwelcome advances to the intern. Ganguly denies the accusations.
But in the new case, the intern was on the Supreme Court roster and was not informally assisting the judge and experts believe the top court may not be able to cite lack of jurisdiction to deal with her complaint.
"This is clearly sexual harassment at the workplace," said Jaising, who had also spearheaded the campaign for justice for the other intern who had leveled allegations against Justice Ganguly.
"This is physical. It is a direct attack," she said. The Supreme Court itself had held that a similar incident of bottom-slapping a woman amounted to outraging the modesty of a woman and had convicted former Punjab cop KPS Gill. "You expect Supreme Court judges to know what the law is and the code of conduct and ethics to be followed. When you are in a position of power you don't take advantage of a 23-year-old," Jaising said.
The top court, she said, had shown that it could do the honorable thing even if it involves its former brethren in Justice Ganguly's case. "I expect them to rise to the occasion. I would like the Supreme Court to reverse the December 5, 2013, decision," she added. She also said that the case would raise several important propositions of law, including what kind of behaviour was expected by judges towards women and whether the Vishakha guidelines apply to them or not.
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