The direction came from a bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, which also asked the High Courts to file a compliance report by July 15. (Express Photo)
THE SUPREME Court on Friday asked all High Courts to set up committees to deal with complaints of sexual harassment as per the mandate of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 in all courts under them within two months.
The direction came from a bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, which also asked the High Courts to file a compliance report by July 15. “The Registrars General of the High Courts shall send a compliance report with regard to constitution of the committee(s) in the High Courts and/or the District Courts on or before 15th July 2018,” the bench said, adding that if the report is not filed within the stipulated time the matter would be listed for hearing before it suo motu. The court was dealing with a petition filed by a woman advocate who alleged she was assaulted by some lawyers at the Tis Hazari district court complex here. On May 9, the court had asked the Delhi Police Commissioner to provide her security.
On Friday, dozens of lawyers led by members of the various Bar associations in Delhi gathered in the courtroom and contended that an FIR had also been filed against the complainant by another woman lawyer. As tensions ran high, the CJI tried to mediate and suggested that the Bar members should try to resolve their differences amicably.