HC dismisses doctor’s plea against sexual harassment panel, upholds its findings

THE HIGH COURT CLARIFIED THAT THE PRESIDING OFFICER OF AN INTERNAL COMPLAINTS COMMITTEE NEED NOT NECESSARILY BE SENIOR TO THE ACCUSED OFFICER

- HT Correspondent

The Bombay High Court has dismissed a petition filed by a doctor accused of sexually harassing a woman during a medical examination, rejecting his challenge to the composition of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) that found him guilty.

A division bench of justices Ravindra Ghuge and Ashwin Bhobe, in its order dated October 14, held that the doctor's plea was “devoid of merits” and clarified the intent of lawmakers behind the Sexual Harassment at the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. “The legislature has consciously used the words ‘woman employee at a senior level’ and not ‘a woman at the workplace senior to the officer against whom allegations of sexual conduct are made’,” the court observed, clarifying that the presiding officer of an ICC need not necessarily be senior to the accused officer.