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VISHAKHA AND ORS. v. STATE OF RAJASTHAN (1997) 6 SCC 241
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Article Details
VISHAKHA AND ORS. v.
STATE OF RAJASTHAN (1997) 6 SCC 241
AUTHORED BY - MUSKAN SETHI
AND SAKSHI KABRA
ABSTRACT
Societal
problems are problems that either directly or indirectly harm the citizens or
are viewed as morally dubious or problematic. The caste system, child abuse,
exploitation & violence against women, poverty, the dowry system, gender
inequality, illiteracy, etc. are certain examples of common societal problems.
Sexual
harassment refers to unwanted sexual favors or behaviors from one gender
towards another. It causes the person being done it to feel humiliated, abused,
and ashamed. Nearly everyone in the world struggles with problems like sexual
harassment and gender injustice, but the situation for Indian women is
appalling. The case we’re dealing with in our research work is a landmark
judgement in the history of Sexual Harassment, the end of which will be
followed by our viewpoint in the same.
INTRODUCTION
Sexual
harassment of women continues to be a pervasive and widespread problem across
the world. While there has been increased awareness and public discourse around
the issue in recent years, there is still much work to be done to prevent and
address sexual harassment.
Some recent
developments related to sexual harassment of women include:
·
#MeToo Movement: The #MeToo movement, which started in
2017, has brought attention to the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault
experienced by women in various industries. It has encouraged women to speak
out about their experiences and has resulted in increased accountability for
perpetrators.
·
Workplace Policies: Many companies and organizations
have updated their workplace policies to include stronger protections against
sexual harassment and improved reporting mechanisms for employees.
·
Legal Reforms: Some countries have implemented legal
reforms to better address sexual harassment, such as criminalizing certain
behaviors and providing better support for survivors.
·
Increased Awareness: There has been increased public
awareness of the issue of sexual harassment, thanks in part to media coverage
and social media campaigns.
BACKGROUND OF THE CASE
The
Vishakha case was a landmark judgment by the Supreme Court of India in 1997
that established guidelines to prevent sexual harassment of women in the
workplace. The case was filed by Bhanwari Devi, a social worker in Rajasthan,
who was sexually assaulted by upper-caste men when she tried to stop a child
marriage. The case highlighted the absence of any legal provisions to address
sexual harassment of women at the workplace in India.
The Supreme
Court's judgment in the Vishakha case recognized sexual harassment at the workplace
as a violation of the fundamental rights of women under the Indian
Constitution. It defined sexual harassment broadly, including unwelcome
physical contact, sexually colored remarks, and the display of pornography. The
court also laid down guidelines for preventing sexual harassment in the
workplace, including the requirement for employers to establish an internal
complaints committee to investigate complaints of sexual harassment.
FACTS
1985: A women
named Bhanwari Devi was from a place named Bhateri, Rajasthan. Bhanwari Devi
was employed as a ‘Saathin’ (implies friend) in a government runned project
named ‘WDP’ -Women Development Project.
1987: An issue of an attempted rape case on a woman arose from the neighboring
village and this matter was taken up by Bhanwari Devi. She gained encouragement
and support from all her village residents.
1992: Additionally Bhanwari Devi also took up the matter of one of the social
evils i.e. Child Marriage. In consequence of the same, Bhanwari Devi faced a
lot of criticism and discouragement by the residents of the village who already
knew that in the eyes of law child marriage is not legal.
The child marriage was taking place in the family of Ram Gurjar who was
marrying away his underaged daughter. Consecutively, Bhanwari Devi gave all her
efforts to stop this marriage at any cost but she failed to do so.
5th
May, 1992: The DSP and the SDO tried to stop
the marriage but next day Ram married away her daughter without any restriction
from the side of the respective authorities. News came out that the police
actions in the first place were taken solely because of Bhanwari Devi’s complaint.
Bhanwari Devi had to face backlash to such an extent that she was boycotted and
she was terminated from her profession.
22nd
September 1992: The gurjar family wanted to
take revenge from Bhanwari Devi and in pursuance of the same, five men of the
Gurjar family which includes: Ram Sukh Gujjar, Gyarsa Gujjar, Ram Karan Gujjar,
and Badri Gujjar along with one Shravan Sharma gang raped Bhanwari Devi and
attacked her husband gruesomely.
The police authorities did not take charge of the crime and in fact violated
the legal justice system by avoiding any complaints and delayed the
investigation procedure. Despite all this, Bhanwari devi managed to file a
complaint and the medical examination which is a key procedure in rape cases
was delayed by 52 hours. The medical examinations reports did not mention
anything about the sexual intercourse rather just had the victim’s age which
made it a lack of evidence for the rape case.
The gurjar family with the help of MLA Dhanraj Meena got acquitted in the
statutory criminal court. The repercussions being many woman activists and
organizations lashed out at the decision and supported the victim. These
respective organizations filed a public interest litigation via a writ petition
‘Mandamus’ by virtue of Article 32[1] of the
Indian Constitution to give justice to Bhanwari Devi. A women‘s rights group
called ‘Vishakha’ filed the PIL and argued that Article 14[2],15[3],19[4],21[5] of the
Indian constitution have been violated and emphasized on the threat to women
working in their respective professions at large.
ISSUES RAISED
1.
Whether sexual harassment at
work constitutes a breach of the rights to life and liberty and the prohibition
of gender inequality?
2.
In the lack of suitable
measures under the current, might the court apply international laws?
3.
Does the employer bear any
liability for sexual harassment committed against or by its employees?
ARGUMENTS
The arguments by the side of petitioners were that golden triangle
articles Article 14,15,19(1)(g),21 of the Indian Constitution have been
violated and showcased the hole in the legal justice system for having lack of
protection of women from sexual harassment at workplaces by virtue of which
they requested for certain guidelines to provide justice to women.
The Gurjars were represented by the Solicitor General who supported the
arguments of the petitioners and asked for guidelines for the protection of
sexual harassment from workplaces. Fali S. Nariman – the amicus curiae (friend)
of the court along with Ms. Naina Kapur and Ms. Meenakshi gave their support
and advice to the Hon’ble court.
HELD
The Hole in the Legal Justice system to provide safe environment for the
women at workplaces was recognized and substantiated the same with the help of
international laws.
The court took assistance from the
Beijing Statement of Principles on the independence of Judiciary in the
LAWASIA region, to function as a guardian of citizens’ rights and independently
make laws in the absence of any legislative framework. The court also referred
certain sections of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) which were Article 11(1) (a) and (f) and
Article 24 which states the duties of the state to take steps and measures to
provide protection to women at work places.
The court by virtue of law under
Article 141[6] of the
Indian Constitution gave Vishakha guidelines which later was the source for The
Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal)
Act, 2013[7].
The
Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal)
Act, 2013. (In pursuance of Vishakha Guidelines)
This act gave employer’s or other
equivalent duty to prevents such acts of sexual harassment from occurring and
to provide remedies including prosecution and conciliations measures via
organizations at the work places.
This act had the definition of
sexual harassment and provided measures for prevention in the form of
notifications, circulars and punishments for the offenders by virtue of the
applicability of the Indian penal code, 1860[8].
Irrespective of the applicability of the binding statute the workplaces is
supposed to have a redressal mechanism for the women working there. It also
mentions about conducting meetings between the employer and employee
relationship to spread awareness for the same.
CONCLUSION
The
Vishakha case was a significant step towards addressing sexual harassment in
India, and its guidelines have since been incorporated into the Sexual
Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act,
2013.
However,
the Act is not applicable to the third gender community which is now been
accepted via a landmark judgement of Supreme Court National Legal Service Authority of India v Union of India[9].
The Indian Penal Code, 1860 does not discuss about Sexual harassment of men
and nor does this act, hence there should be specific provisions that deals
with regards to the same.
However,
despite these developments, sexual harassment of women remains a pervasive
problem. Many women still face significant barriers when reporting harassment
in unorganized sector, and there is still a great deal of stigma surrounding
speaking out about such experiences. Scope of the act in unorganized sector is
non-existent as there are no redressal mechanisms for the same . More work is
needed to create a culture where sexual harassment is not tolerated, and
survivors are provided with the support they need.
[1]
The Constitution of India, 1950, Art. 32.
[2]
The Constitution of India, 1950, Art. 14.
[3]
The Constitution of India, 1950, Art. 15.
[4]
The Constitution of India, 1950, Art. 19.
[5]
The Constitution of India, 1950, Art. 21.
[6]
The Constitution of India, 1950, Art. 141.
[7] The
Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal)
Act, 2013, No. 14, Acts of Parliament, 2013.
[8]
Indian Penal Code, 1860, No. 45, Acts of Parliament, 1949.
[9] AIR
2014 SC 1863
Article Information
VISHAKHA AND ORS. v. STATE OF RAJASTHAN (1997) 6 SCC 241
Authors: MUSKAN SETHI, SAKSHI KABRA
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2023/04/11
- Volume 2
- Issue 7
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International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- Abbreviation IJLRA
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