The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the states and Union Territories to constitute an internal complaints committee in all government departments and public sector undertakings to ensure compliance with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
District-level officers of the rank of district collectors have been directed to oversee the implementation of the legislation.
A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and N. Kotiswar Singh also asked the states and Union Territories to involve private organisations in the implementation of the Act.
The court expressed its dismay over the tardy implementation of the law enacted in 2013 and termed it a “disquieting and sorry state of affairs”.
While referring to its earlier directions passed in March and October last year, the bench passed the following orders on Tuesday:
- All states/ Union Territories will appoint a district magistrate/ additional district magistrate/ collector/ deputy collector to discharge the duty of a “district officer”
- Every district officer shall constitute a “local committee” to receive complaints of sexual harassment from establishments that don’t have an “internal committee” because they have less than 10 workers or in cases where the complaint is against the employer himself
- The district officer shall designate one nodal officer in every block, taluka and tehsil in rural or tribal areas and ward or municipality in urban areas to receive complaints and forward them to the local committee concerned within seven days
Justice Nagarathna said the district officers should be appointed by December 31, 2024, and the local committees should be constituted by March 31.
The apex court also directed the states/ Union Territories to create “She Box” portals so that the victims can access details about district officers, nodal officers and local committees to lodge complaints and seek redress.