Anti-Sexual Harassment Procedure
Sexual harassment is gender-based verbal or physical conduct that has the purpose or effect of either unreasonably interfering with an individual’s dignity, work or academic performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working on educational environment.
Process of making complaint of Sexual Harassment
A suffering person is required to submit written complaint to the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) within three months from the date of the incident and in case of a series of incidents within a period of three months from tire date of the last incident. Provided that where such complaint cannot be made in writing, the Presiding Officer or any Member of the Internal Complaints Committee shall render all reasonable assistance to the person for making the complaint in writing. Friends, relatives, colleagues, co-students, psychologist, or any other associate of the victim may file the complaint in situations where the aggrieved person is unable to make a complaint on account of physical or mental in capacity or death.
Process of conducting Inquiry: –
- The ICC shall, upon receipt of the complaint, send one copy of the complaint to the respondent within a period of seven days of such receipt.
- Upon receipt of the copy of the complaint, the respondent shall file his or her reply to the complaint along with the list of documents, and names and addresses of witnesses within a period of ten days.
- The inquiry has to be completed within a period of ninety days from the receipt of the complaint.
- The inquiry report, with recommendations, if any, has to lie submitted within ten days from tire completion of the inquiry to the Executive Authority of the HEI. Copy of the findings or recommendations shall also be served on both parties to the complaint.
- The Executive Authority of the HEI shall act on the recommendations of the committee within a period of thirty days from the receipt of the inquiry report, unless an appeal against the findings is filed within that time by either party.
- An appeal against the findings or /recommendations of the ICC may be filed by either party before the Executive Authority of the HEI within a period of thirty days from the date of the recommendations.
- If the Executive Authority of the HEI decides not to act as per the recommendations of the ICC, then it shall record written reasons for the same to be conveyed to ICC and both the parties. If, on the other hand, it is decided to act as per the recommendations of the ICC, then a Show Cause notice, answerable within ten days, shall be served on the party against whom action is decided to be taken.
- The Executive Authority of the HEI shall proceed only after considering the reply or hearing the aggrieved person.
- The aggrieved party may seek conciliation in order to settle the matter. No monetary settlement should be made as a basis of conciliation. The HEI shall facilitate a conciliation process through ICC as the case may be, once it is sought. The resolution of the conflict to the full satisfaction of the aggrieved party wherever possible, is preferred to purely punitive intervention.
- The identities of the aggrieved party or victim or the witness or the offender shall not be made public or kept in the public domain especially during the process of the inquiry.
The case will be followed with the legal procedure as per the law of the land if the accused is found guilty of charge by the ICC or any other body.
