This weekend we got a chance to interact with Justice Dr. S. Radhakrishnan (Retd.) and seek his views on several facets of the law against sexual harassment at the workplace and the workings of the courts. He was kind enough to answer all our questions and share his experiences with us, and we are very thankful to him. Given below is a summary of what we discussed with him.
Do you think sexual harassment is gender-specific? In your opinion, are people aware of the law against sexual harassment at work?
By and large, sexual harassment is against women. Many people are not aware of the law against sexual harassment.
In light of complaints being filed against judges like Justice Ganguly, Justice S. K. Gangele, and Justice Soni, would you say sexual harassment is common in the judiciary as well? If yes, why do you think such behavior is being reported more now?
Sexual harassment is not common in the judiciary, and some of those cases are aberrations.
While the Supreme Court and most High Courts have their own regulations on sexual harassment at the workplace, such regulations do not provide for any detailed procedure that may be followed while inquiring into a complaint. What is the actual procedure for inquiring into a complaint against a judge or a staff member of the court? Are there any service rules applicable to them?
The Supreme Court as well as all the high courts have their own rules and procedures to handle sexual harassment cases.
How difficult is it to prove an email, WhatsApp chat, tape, or video recording in a court of law? What are the criteria that courts look at?
Emails and electronic evidence are admissible as evidence,and such evidence will have to strictly comply with the provisions of Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
Please note: Section 65A states that the contents of electronic records may be proved in accordance with the provisions of Section 65B. Section 65B states that any information contained in an electronic record that is printed on paper, stored, recorded, or copied in optical or magnetic media produced by a computer shall be deemed to be a document if certain conditions are met (one of them being a certificate obtained at the time of taking the document). The Supreme Court held in 2016 in the case of Harpal Singh @ Chhota vs. State Of Punjab that any electronic record in the form of secondary evidence cannot be admitted in evidence unless a certificate under Section 65B (4) of the Evidence Act is produced.
Do you think a sexual harassment complaint can be resolved successfully through arbitration?
Sexual harassment cases cannot be resolved through arbitration.
From various case laws, we understand that even in cases of writ petitions being filed against employers for not ensuring a ‘fair’ inquiry into a complaint, courts usually do not interfere in the inquiry procedure followed by organizations internally unless the procedure really’shocks the conscience’ of the court. What does this term mean for a layman?
Courts do not go into the merits of inquiry proceedings.The term “shocks the conscience of the court” means that the basic principles of natural justice were not even followed.
This New Year, would you like to give any message to organizations or the judiciary on the importance of this law?
To eradicate sexual harassment, we have to revamp our educational systems based on the 18th and 19th centuries.From a young age, girls and boys should be treated equally by their parents and teachers. All our texts, books, media, movies, and dramas depict women as inferior. This can be easily exploited, and this results in sexual harassment. From childhood, boys and girls should be given the correct value education; then, men will start respecting women, and sexual harassment will automatically stop. Even today in India, educated mothers make the girl children do all household chores, and the boys are not asked to do the same. By the time these boys become men, they start feeling that they are a more superior gender and end up not respecting women. This eventually results in sexual harassment.