A LAW THAT EVERY WORKING WOMAN SHOULD KNOW (Sexual Harassment At Workplace)

Sexual Harassment At Workplace 

usually one approach the court for own interest but there are some case which were beneficiary for   the whole nation. out of those cases one case was banwari devi case or vishakha case. this case forced Indian parliament pass the law against sexual harassment  at workplace .
  BUT Prior to the Visakha Guidelines, the workplace was dangerous for many women, especially in the case of sexual harassment. In 1992, Bhanwari Devi was gang-raped by upper caste men in her village as she tried to raise her voice against child marriage. Her vagina  swab was taken from her body 48 hours after the incident due to gross negligence. Ideally, this should be done within 24 hours. Shockingly, the judge presiding over his case (this was the seventh judge after the six others were removed) acquitted the accused, even stating, "Since the perpetrators were upper caste men , so rape could not happen. " This happened because Bhanwari was from a lower caste. After the acquittal over the acquittal, Visakha and some other women's groups filed a public interest litigation against the state of Rajasthan and the Union of India, forcing the latter to adopt Visakha guidelines, which now protect the working Women all over the country.

The Supreme Court had  made it compulsory for every state, union territory and regulatory body to implement a legal mechanism for implementing the guidelines issued in the 'Visakha' case, allowing employers to prevent sexual harassment. To realize and ensure this. Women at their workplaces.

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court clarified that the guidelines issued in the Visakha case should be implemented not only in form but also in substance to ensure a safe and secure place and environment for a woman. Could. His workplace. The bench also states that there is a lack of a law and proper mechanism to address complaints of sexual harassment of women, such as women doctors / nurses or architects and even domestic workers and in other cases, because often Women are victims of sexual harassment. Often reluctant to accept it due to some social stigma / fanaticism, they think that it affects their dignity and respect in society.

Sexual harassment at workplaces is an expression of the continuing gender discrimination in society that is rarely recognized. The bench has also stated that if there exists a case for modifying old acts and bringing in new laws to protect women from indecency, humiliation and humiliation occurring in their workplaces, homes and other places, it would certainly Will react To educate girls and women in all fields and protect them from violence in all forms (eg domestic violence, sexual harassment at work); latter on  law was enacted by the Parliament namely Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 .

KNOW THE EXACT LAW OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013

 WHAT IS SEXUAL HARASSMENT AS PER LAW?

AS PER LAW OF 2013 SEXUAL HARASSMENT INCLUDES:

• .Sexually suggestive remarks or innuendos; serious or repeated offensive remarks; .inappropriate questions or remarks about a person’s sex life
• .Display of sexist or offensive pictures, posters, MMS, SMS, WhatsApp, or emails
• Intimidation, threats, blackmail around sexual favours; also, threats, intimidation or retaliation against an employee who speaks up about these
• Unwelcome social invitations with sexual overtones, commonly seen as flirting
• Unwelcome sexual advances

According to the LAW, “unwelcome behaviour” is experienced when the victim feels bad or powerless; it causes anger/sadness or negative self-esteem. It adds unwelcome behaviour is one which is “illegal, demeaning, invading, one-sided and power based”.

The Act specifies five circumstances that amount to sexual harassment. These are:

• Implied or explicit promise of preferential treatment in her employment
• Implied or explicit threat of detrimental treatment
• Implied or explicit threat about her present or future employment status
•  Interference with her work or creating an offensive or hostile work environment
• Humiliating treatment likely to affect her health or safety.

Who is an ‘aggrieved woman’ as per the Act?

According to the Handbook on Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace, the Act recognises the right of every woman to a safe and secure workplace environment “irrespective of her age or employment/work status”. Any woman coming to any workplace “whether in the capacity of regular, temporary, adhoc, or daily wages basis” is protected under the Act.

It further says such women can be “engaged directly or through an agent including a contractor, with or without the knowledge of the principal employer”; they may be working for remuneration, or on a voluntary basis, a contract worker, probationer, trainee, apprentice, or called by any other such name.

The identity of the woman, respondent, witness, any information on the inquiry, recommendation and action taken, cannot be made public, as per the Act.

How to file a complaint of sexual harassment at workplace?

The 2013 Act says the aggrieved woman may make, in writing, a complaint of sexual harassment. However, a written complaint is not mandatory. If she cannot give a written complaint, the Act says, any member of the ICC “shall” render “all reasonable assistance” to her for facilitating it. Also, if the woman is unable to make a complaint citing “physical or mental incapacity or death or otherwise”, her legal heir may do so.

Time-frame for making a complaint to ICC

According to the Act, the complaint of sexual harassment has to be made “within three months from the date of the incident”. If such incidents have taken place over a time, the complaint should be made within three months from the date of the last incident. However, the ICC has the discretion to “extend the time limit” if “it is satisfied that the circumstances were such which prevented the woman from filing a complaint within the said period”. The ICC needs to record these reasons to exercise the right.

after a complaint is made?

Once a complaint is made, the ICC can offer conciliation under Section 10 of the Act. Before starting an inquiry, the ICC may “at the request of the aggrieved woman, take steps to settle the matter between her and the respondent though conciliation”. It is to be seen, however, that “no monetary settlement shall be made as a basis of conciliation”.

If conciliation is not an option, the ICC may straightaway forward the complaint to the police under RELEVANT SECTIONS OF IPC (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) . Or, it can start its own inquiry and complete it within 90 days.

Enjoying powers similar to those of a civil court, the ICC can summon and examine any person on oath, can ask for production of related documents before it. During the inquiry, if the woman makes a written request, the ICC “may” also recommend her transfer, a three-month leave, or any other relief it deems fit. Once the inquiry is over, the ICC is to provide a report to the employer within 10 days, making available a copy of it to the victim too.

What happens after the ICC report?

If the ICC finds the allegations true, it will recommend to the company to take action against the accused for misconduct “in accordance with the provisions of the service rules”. In case the company does not have service rules, the recommended action may include disciplinary action, including a written apology, reprimand, warning, censure; withholding promotion/ pay raise/ increment; termination of service; counselling; community service.

The ICC can also recommend financial damages to the complainant. The amount can be decided taking into consideration “mental trauma, pain, suffering and emotional distress caused”, medical expenses incurred, loss of career opportunity, and income and financial status of the respondent.

Once the ICC furnishes its recommendations, the aggrieved woman or the respondent can challenge the report in a court of law within 90 days.

What happens to the ‘victim’ if her complaint is found to be false?

Section 14 of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act deals with false complainant. If the ICC finds the complaint to be false, the Act says, it may recommend action against the woman or the person who has made the complaint. The Act, however, makes it clear that “a mere inability to substantiate a complaint or provide adequate proof need not attract legal action. Also, no action can be recommended against the complainant unless an inquiry establishes malicious intent on part of the complainant.

जब एक मृत व्यक्ति ने राजीव गांधी विरुद्ध चुनाव लड़ा WHEN A DEAD MAN STOOD IN ELECTION AGAINST RAJIV GANDHI (FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA) LAL BIHARI CASE

 Lal Bihari has spent a significant part of his adult life being dead on paper. In fact he grew so used to his expired identity that he became known as Lal Bihari “Mritak” – “dead man.” In his village of Amilo, Uttar Pradesh, people on the streets simply call him “Mritak.”(dead man)

Bihari is not the only mritak. He is among the thousands who have been unlawfully registered as dead in government records by their relatives in order to capture their land and property. This often happens with the connivance of local officials.

Bihari fought for 18 years and managed to reclaim his identity in 1994. His fight hasn’t stopped. He became a full time activist to help those who face the same plight that he did – being stripped of an identity and land rights.

when Lal Bihari was 22 years old  went to a bank for loan against his ancestral property that initially belong to his father, is been told that is dead according to records and the land belongs to his uncle. This may sound odd to many but this had happened in one of villages of Azamgarh district, Uttar Pradesh. In 1977, when Lal Bihari (born in 1955) went approached the bank for loan, he has been declared dead over a year by the official sitting there. To regain his identity, Lal Bihari had to fight many odds and finally after 18years of struggle the court gave him his life back on paper. According to the government’s RTI responses to petitions filed by Bihari – the other was in 2008 and indicated that 335 dead people had been declared “alive” – over 500 people have been recognised as living individuals.

Acrimony and greed led members of same family declaring the other person dead so as to acquire the land and unscrupulous work by the lekpal (low-level bureaucrat) in maintaining the record books devoid a living person of Right to Life. This case brought into five major citation, those are, The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993;The Indian Penal Code; Article 21 in The Constitution Of India 1949;Section 36 in The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993;Section 14 in The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.

The chronology of events in Lal bihari case

Lal Bihari took 18 years to get his identity back.

Phase 1

Lal Bihari approaches his birthplace Khalilabad for residence, income and caste certificates as He needed them to get a bank loan for his handloom business. On his arrival at the tehsildar’s office, he came to know that he has been dead since 30th July, 1976. His relatives had bribed the khatuni (record keeper) to declare him dead on the official papers and transfer one-fifths of the land to them. Shocked and shattered with the news, he started a new phase of life, which was regaining his identity.

Phase 2

Lal Bihari kidnapped his nephew and sent his shirt drenched with animals blood available at butcher’s shop. But he let the child go to his parents when didn’t register any case against him. If nephew’s parents would have registered a case against him then he would had a proof of his identity. After his nephew returned home, an article appeared in a regional newspaper called Swatantra Bharat and after hearing upon the news an MLA raised a question in the UP Assembly.

Phase 3

Lal Bihari got married at a young age, and applied for a widow pension for his wife hoping the government would rectify the mistake upon seeing him alive, but this also went in vain.

Phase 4

At this point Lal Bihari started to give when a politician named Shyam Lal appeared as a Guru to him and advised him to openly call him “Mritak”, as the passerby made fun of his identity and cracked joke on his situation. This idea appealed him so much so that he started the Mritak Sangh, an association of the living dead. But there was one problem: it had no members except him.

Phase 5

As the drama spurred at the Assembly, Lal Bihari sat on dharnas outside the Assemby in Lucknow. And finally got a visitor pass to enter the assembly, and heroically stood up from his place and sang the slogan of “Mujhe zinda karo” while the assembly was in session. He had to be thrown out of the assembly. He even bribed a police officer with 500 Rupees to register a case against him but it went into vain.

Phase 6

 Lal Bihari sold his property to contest the 1988 Lok Sabha election from Allahabad against former Prime Minister VP Singh.Surprising even himself, he got about 1,600 votes. In 1989, he filed nomination papers against Rajiv Gandhi in Amethi and then promptly filed an application for countermanding the election, as he was dead. It was not countermanded, of course, but he got written about. In 1994, finally he was declared alive and got his identity back.

Now Mritak Sangh is a popular community, which helps other people like Lal Bihari to earn justice who have been declared dead by the family members in lure of property.

NOBEL PRIZE IN Peace – Presented to Lal Bihari, of Uttar Pradesh, India, for a triple accomplishment: First, for leading an active life even though he has been declared ,Legally dead; Second, to carry out a lively posthumous campaign against bureaucratic inertia and greedy relatives; And third, to form the Association of Dead People. Lal Bihari overcame the barrier of being dead, and managed to obtain a passport from the Government of India so that he could travel to Harvard and accept his award. However, the US government refused to allow them into the country. His friend Madhu Kapoor therefore came to the IG Nobel function and accepted the award on behalf of Lal Bihari. Several weeks later, Lal Bihari was presented the award at a special ceremony in India.

you can learn so many lessons from Lal Bihari's struggle but one thing you should learn that you cannot get everything in your life easily but you can get for sure what you deserves  if you are strong enough to fight with odd's in you life   

you can learn so many lessons from Lal Bihari's struggle but one thing you should learn that you cannot get everything in your life easily but you can get for sure what you deserves  if you are strong enough to fight with odd's in you life   

The Right Empowers YOU to SPEECH , YOU MUST KNOW ( RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH & EXPRESSION)

Right to freedom of speech & expression is FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT OF EVERY CITIZEN OF INDIA  .

   Article 19 (1) A of INDIAN CONSTITUTION

  guarantees to all the citizens right to freedom of speech and expression. this right is most important right not because it not only assures the condition necessary for democracy but also for a civilized life. The ability to express our opinion and speak freely is essential to bring about change in society

WHAT IS Freedom of Speech & EXPRESSION  AS PER INDIAN CONSTITUTION ?

Freedom of speech enjoys special position as far India is concerned. The importance of freedom of expression and speech can be easily understand by the fact that preamble of constitution itself ensures to all citizens inter alia, liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. The constitutional significance of the freedom of speech consists in the Preamble of Constitution and is transformed as fundamental and human right in Article 19(1) (a) as “freedom of speech and expression”. Explaining the scope of freedom of speech and expression Supreme Court has said that the words "freedom of speech and expression" must be broadly constructed to include the freedom to circulate one's views by words of mouth or in writing or through audiovisual instrumentalists. Freedom of Speech and expression means the right to express one's own convictions and opinions freely by words of mouth, writing, printing, pictures or any other mode. It thus includes the expression of one's idea through any communicable medium or visible representation, such as gesture, signs, and the like.

This ALSO includes the right to express your views aloud (for example through public protest and demonstrations) or through:

• published articles, books or leaflets
• television or radio broadcasting
• works of art
• the internet and social media

.

IS THERE ANY RESTRICTIONS  ON RIGHT TO FREEDOM?

Article 19(2) in The Constitution Of India 

Grounds of Restrictions

It is necessary to maintain and preserve freedom of speech and expression in a democracy, so also it is necessary to place some restrictions on this freedom for the maintenance of social order, because no freedom can be absolute or completely unrestricted. Accordingly, under Article 19(2) of the Constitution of India, the State may make a law imposing “reasonable restrictions” on the exercise of the right to freedom of speech and expression “in the interest of” the public on the following grounds: Clause (2) of Article 19 of Indian constitution contains the grounds on which restrictions on the freedom of speech and expression can be imposed:-

1) Security of State: Security of state is of vital importance and a government must have power to impose restriction on the activity affecting it. Under Article 19(2) reasonable restrictions can be imposed on freedom of speech and expression in the interest of security of State. However the term “security” is very crucial one. The term "security of state" refers only to serious and aggravated forms of public order e.g. rebellion, waging war against the State, insurrection and not ordinary breaches of public order and public safety, e.g. unlawful assembly, riot, affray. Thus speeches or expression on the part of an individual, which incite to or encourage the commission of violent crimes, such as, murder are matters, which would undermine the security of State.

2) Friendly relations with foreign states: In the present global world, a country has to maintain good and friendly relationship with other countries. Something which has potential to affect such relation ship should be checked by government. Keeping this thing in mind, this ground was added by the constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951. The object behind the provision is to prohibit unrestrained malicious propaganda against a foreign friendly state, which may jeopardize the maintenance of good relations between India, and that state.

No similar provision is present in any other Constitution of the world. In India, the Foreign Relations Act, (XII of 1932) provides punishment for libel by Indian citizens against foreign dignitaries. Interest of friendly relations with foreign States, would not justify the suppression of fair criticism of foreign policy of the Government. However it is interesting to note that member of the commonwealth including Pakistan is not a "foreign state" for the purposes of this Constitution. The result is that freedom of speech and expression cannot be restricted on the ground that the matter is adverse to Pakistan.

3) Public Order: Next restriction prescribed by constitution is to maintain public order. This ground was added by the Constitution (First Amendment) Act. 'Public order' is an expression of wide connotation and signifies "that state of tranquility which prevails among the members of political society as a result of internal regulations enforced by the Government which they have established."

Here it is pertinent to look into meaning of the word “Public order. Public order is something more than ordinary maintenance of law and order. 'Public order' is synonymous with public peace, safety and tranquility. Anything that disturbs public tranquility or public peace disturbs public order. Thus communal disturbances and strikes promoted with the sole object of accusing unrest among workmen are offences against public order. Public order thus implies absence of violence and an orderly state of affairs in which citizens can peacefully pursue their normal avocation of life. Public order also includes public safety. Thus creating internal disorder or rebellion would affect public order and public safety. But mere criticism of government does not necessarily disturb public order.

The words 'in the interest of public order' includes not only such utterances as are directly intended to lead to disorder but also those that have the tendency to lead to disorder. Thus a law punishing utterances made with the deliberate intention to hurt the religious feelings of any class of persons is valid because it imposes a restriction on the right of free speech in the interest of public order since such speech or writing has the tendency to create public disorder even if in some case those activities may not actually lead to a breach of peace. But there must be reasonable and proper nexus or relationship between the restrictions and the achievements of public order.

4) Decency or morality: The way to express something or to say something should be decent one. It should not affect the morality of the society adversely. Our constitution has taken care of this view and inserted decency and morality as a ground. The words 'morality or decency' are words of wide meaning. Sections 292 to 294 of the Indian Penal Code provide instances of restrictions on the freedom of speech and expression in the interest of decency or morality. These sections prohibit the sale or distribution or exhibition of obscene words, etc. in public places. No fix standard is laid down till now as to what is moral and indecent. The standard of morality varies from time to time and from place to place.

5) Contempt of Court: In a democratic country Judiciary plays very important role. In such situation it becomes essential to respect such institution and its order. Thus, restriction on the freedom of speech and expression can be imposed if it exceeds the reasonable and fair limit and amounts to contempt of court. According to the Section 2 'Contempt of court' may be either 'civil contempt' or 'criminal contempt.' But now, Indian contempt law was amended in 2006 to make “truth” a defence. However, even after such amendment a person can be punished for the statement unless they were made in public interest. Again in Indirect Tax Practitioners Assn. vs R.K.Jain, it was held by court that, “Truth based on the facts should be allowed as a valid defence if courts are asked to decide contempt proceedings relating to contempt proceeding relating to a speech or an editorial or article”. The qualification is that such defence should not cover-up to escape from the consequences of a deliberate effort to scandalize the court.

6) Defamation: Ones’ freedom, be it of any type, must not affect the reputation or status another person. A person is known by his reputation more than his wealth or any thing else. Constitution considers it as ground to put restriction on freedom of speech. Basically, a statement, which injures a man's reputation, amounts to defamation. Defamation consists in exposing a man to hatred, ridicule, or contempt. The civil law in relating to defamation is still uncodified in India and subject to certain exceptions.

7) Incitement to an offence: This ground was also added by the constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951. Obviously, freedom of speech and expression cannot confer a right to incite people to commit offence. The word 'offence' is defined as any act or omission made punishable by law for the time being in force.

8) Sovereignty and integrity of India- To maintain sovereignty and integrity of a state is prime duty of government. Taking into it into account, freedom of speech and expression can be restricted so as not to permit any one to challenge sovereignty or to permit any one to preach something which will result in threat to integrity of the country.

From above analysis, it is evident that Grounds contained in Article 19(2) show that they are all concerned with the national interest or in the interest of the society. The first set of grounds i.e. the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States and public order are all grounds referable to national interest, whereas, the second set of grounds i.e. decency, morality, contempt of court, defamation and incitement to an offence are all concerned with the interest of the society.