VISHAKHA V. STATE OF RAJASTHAN AIR 1997 SC 3011

Advertisements

GENERAL INFORMATION

CASE SUMMARY

FACTS OF THE CASE

• Bhawari devi was a social worker, living in Bhateri village in the Indian state Rajasthan located 55 km from capital of Rajasthan i.e. Jaipur.
• In 1985, state government has started a project ‘Women Development Project’ which was about to stop child marriage and Bhawari devi was employed as a social worker in the program. Many women were appointed in the program and she was one of them, appointed as sathini for communication in villages. She was herself 5 years old on the time of her marriage.
• The campaign was against child marriage. One day while at work she was working to stop a marriage of a 9 month old girl child in Ramkaran Gujjar’s family. Unfortunately, the family managed to marry the baby the next day.
• On 22 September 1992 Bhawari devi was working in a field with her husband. The five men, four from the aforementioned Gujjar family (Ram Sukh Gujjar, Gyarsa Gujjar, Ram Karan Gujjar and Badri Gujjar) and one Shravan Sharma, planned to exact revenge and then attacked Bhawari devi’s husband and she  was brutally gang raped by all five men.
• She went to the police station, but they didn’t help. She was told to leave her Lehenga (skirt) at the station for medical evidence. Bhawari devi, in her never ending quest for justice, managed to file a complaint.
• The medical examination was delayed for fifty-two hours. However, the examiner did not mention any rape commission in the report, instead mentioning the victim’s age.
• In the verdict of 15 November 1995, the district and sessions court in Jaipur dismissed the case and acquitted all the five accused. Five judges were changed and it was the sixth judge who ruled that the accused were not guilty, stating that Bhawari’s husband couldn’t have passively watched his wife being gang- raped.
• The matter came in light when a news published in newspaper  Rajasthan Patrika went viral and then the State government decided to appeal the judgement after being pressured by women’s groups and non-governmental organizations. High court held only one hearing regarding the case. Two of five accused were dead at the time of high court proceeding.
• This provoked women’s groups and NGO and a women’s rights group known as ‘Vishakha’ along with four organizations to come together and filed a petition against this brutal gang rape.
• This was a PIL filed by these organizations against this vicious gang rape, it laid its focus on the enforcement of the fundamental rights of women at the workplace under the provisions of Article 14, 15, 19 and 21 of the constitution of India, it also raised the issue of the need for protection of women from sexual harassment at workplace.

ISSUE RAISED

• Whether the decision of the trial court in Bhawari devi’s case was violative of her fundamental rights- article 14, 15, 19(1), 21 of the constitution of India?
• Whether there is a role and responsibility of employer in sexual harassment case or not?
• Whether there is a need of formal guidelines regarding sexual harassment in a workplace or not?

ARGUMENTS FROM THE PETITIONER’S SIDE

• The writ petition was filed by the ‘Vishakha’ organization and other organizations and argued that the act of sexual harassment of women at workplace violate the fundamental rights enshrined under article 14,15,19(1), and 21 of the constitution of India. They requested the court to frame guidelines for preventing sexual harassment on the workplace. The real meaning of gender equality must be understood.

ARGUMENT FROM THE RESPONDENT SIDE

• The solicitor general in this case did something unusual. With the consent of respondent, state-supported the petitioners. The respondent helped the honourable court come up with a practical strategy to stop sexual harassment and design the rule for its avoidance.

RELATED PROVISIONS

• THE VISHAKHA GUIDELINES
• Employer’s duty- Employer or other responsible persons are bound to preclude such indecent incidents of sexual harassment from happening. In the case, such act happens, then the organization must consist of a mechanism to provide prosecutorial and conciliatory remedies.
• Measures for prevention- employers or persons in charge of the workplace must take preventive measures such as an express prohibition of sexual harassment in the form of notifications or circulars, penalties by the government against the offender, appropriate work conditions in respect of hygiene, health and leisure.
• Proceedings in case of misconduct- if the offenses committed are the ones that fall under the purview of the Indian penal code, 1860 then the employer is bound to take prosecutorial action by complaining to the appropriate authority.
• Appropriate disciplinary action – if there is an occurrence of the violation of service rules, appropriate disciplinary action must be taken.
• Redressal mechanism- an organization must have a redressal mechanism to address the complaints. This must be irrespective of the fact that whether the act constitutes an offense under the Indian penal code, 1860, or any other law such.
• Redressal committee- such a redressal mechanism or more precisely such a complaint committee must have women as more than half of its members and its head must be a woman. The committee must comprise of a counselling facility. It is also acceptable to collaborate with NGO’s or any such organizations which are well aware of such issues. A report must be sent to the government annually on the development of the issues being dealt by the committee.

JUDGEMENT

• The judgement of this case was conveyed by chief justice J.S. Verma. The court observed that the fundamental rights under article 14(2), 19(3) (1) (g) and 21(4) of the Constitution of India that, every profession, trade or occupation should provide safe working environment to the employees. It hampered the right to life and the right to live a dignified life. The basic requirement was that there should be the availability of safe working environment at workplace.
• The Supreme Court held that women have fundamental right towards the freedom of sexual harassment at workplace. It also put forward various important guidelines for the employees to follow them and avoid sexual harassment of women at workplace.
• The Supreme Court made the term Sexual Harassment well defined. It stated that any physical touch or conduct, showing of pornography, any unpleasant taunt or misbehaviour, or any sexual desire towards women, sexual favour will come under the ambit of sexual harassment.

CONCLUSION

• Mahatma Gandhi once said- “the day a woman can walk freely on the roads at night, that day we can say that India has achieved independence”.
• Pandit Jawaharlal said- “you can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its women”.
• Sexual harassment of women at the workplace happens at a frequent rate in India. If any strict action will not be taken towards this crime, it will directly hamper the working ration of the women in India and on other hand it will hamper the economic situation of India. The conditions of women must be equal to the men. This case is considered a landmark case by providing some special rights to women. Vishakha guidelines were announced in the judgement which made working environment for women on the workplace.

Admin