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Vishaka & Ors. v State of Rajasthan (1997) 6 SCC 241 is a milestone judgment
given by the honorable Supreme Court of India that deals with aspects of sexual
harassment of women in the workplace. The supreme court formulated the very
famous Vishaka guidelines and made it mandatory for both private and public sectors
to establish mechanisms to redress sexual harassment complaints. The Judgment was
delivered by the bench Chief Justice J.S. Verma, Justice Sujata V. Manohar, And
Justice B.N. Kirpal .
Facts of the Case:
It all started when Banwari Devi, a social worker in a program to prevent child
marriages, intervened to prevent child marriage in an influential Gujjar family. While
Banwari Devi did an admirable job despite the protests, the family was hell-bent on
vengeance. Ramakant Gujjar and five of his men gang-raped her in front of her
husband in a brutal manner. Her subsequent attempt to file a police report was met
with apathy for a long time, and once she did, she was subjected to further stigma and
cruelty. The trial court acquitted the accused due to a lack of evidence, but Banwari
Devi and a sympathizer filed a writ petition with the Supreme Court.
Issues raised:
Judgment Review:
The Court in this case, observed that sexual harassment at the workplace was violative
of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution under Articles 14, 16, 19,
and 21. The Court further defined sexual harassment as unwelcome “sexually
determined behavior (whether directly or indirectly) like physical contact and
advances, a demand or request for sexual favors, sexually colored remarks, showing
pornography, or any other unwelcome physical verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual
nature”. The Court opined that it is deemed to be discriminatory when the woman
believes that objecting to sexual harassment would disadvantage her in her
employment in terms of recruiting or promotion or the creation of a hostile work
environment.
As a result, sexual harassment does not have to include physical contact. Sexual
harassment can be defined as any act that creates a hostile work environment, such as
cracking lewd jokes, verbal abuse, spreading rumors, and so on.
Vishaka Guidelines:
The Supreme Court of India upheld the constitutional principles of equality and liberty
in the Vishaka judgment. The Supreme Court of India’s decision merely proposed
guidelines to address the issue of sexual harassment. The Sexual Harassment of
Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013
(“Sexual Harassment Act”), which went into effect on April 23, 2013, was India’s
first law addressing workplace sexual harassment.
Click here to view the judgment
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