New Delhi: Taking suo motu cognizance of the allegations of sexual harassment against a special director general of police (DGP) rank official in Tamil Nadu, the Madras High Court said it will monitor the probe into the case, saying it has to ensure that the fundamental right of the victim to a free and fair investigation is not “reduced to an empty ritual”.
Taking a serious view of the victim’s complaint, the court observed that there is a “faulty gene” in men which sometimes makes them think that a woman is subordinate to them and that at times she can even be treated like “chattel.”
“If an officer, due to the power he wields, thinks that he can get over with his power and connections, from any act, this court is not going to be a mute spectator and this court will step in and ensure that the rule of law is preserved,” Justice N. Anand Venkatesh said.
In his interim order, the judge also directed that the names of both the accused and the victim shall not be publicised and also expressed concern over a woman officer being forced to undergo such an experience.
In view of the upcoming assembly elections, the high court also restrained parties from “politicising and/or publicising this case”, adding that no statements must be given by political parties to the media.
The court took cognizance of the case against the special DGP level official, who has now been placed under ‘compuslory wait,’ after the CB-CID filed an FIR, under sections including sexual harassment and criminal intimidation.
“This court shudders to think as to what would have happened if the victim was an officer belonging to a lower cadre as that of a sub-inspector or constable of police,” Justice Venkatesh said.
“Probably, it would have become impossible for such an officer to have even given a complaint in this case. If that is the position in which lady officers are placed, it is hard to think as to what will happen if such sexual harassment had taken place on an ordinary lady with no background,” the judge noted.
According to the victim’s complaint, the accused had sexually harassed her on February 21 during her travel towards Ulundurpet when the officials were on duty.
“The complaint reads as if the officer was trying her best to wriggle out of the situation. The harassment suffered by the victim officer went to a point where she was left with no option but to hurriedly leave to Ulundurpet in the available car..” the court said.
An SP level official and two policemen later tried to prevent her from proceeding to Chennai to file a complaint.
‘Extraordinary case’
“The victim officer in this case is a high-ranked police officer of the State Police. It took so much of struggle, for a police officer of that rank, even to give a complaint to the DGP,” the judge noted.
Saying that this was “an extraordinary case” where the court was required to step in to monitor the investigation to ensure it progresses on the right lines, the court said that the axiomatic principle that ‘justice must not only be done but seen to be done’ is not alien to the field of criminal investigation.
“…[T]his court is required to step in to monitor the investigation to ensure that it progresses on the right lines, and to retain public confidence in the investigation of the alleged crime by ringfencing the interference of the high and mighty in the corridors of power,” Justice Venkatesh said.
The court also wanted to ensure that the fundamental rights of the victim to a free and fair investigation is not reduced to an empty ritual.
“It is true that an FIR has now been registered by the CB-CID and it is brought to the notice of this court that the case is going to be investigated by an officer not less than the rank of the superintendent of police. The mere registration of an FIR by itself does not take away the sordid state of affairs that is prevailing insofar as sexual harassment in workplaces are concerned,” the court noted, according to LiveLaw.
Justice Venkatesh said that history, “time and again shows that it is after a very long struggle, and only in the last 25 years that women have somehow managed to get to top levels at workplaces including public service”.
“That by itself, does not place them at a secure position since they are not seen in their stature as an officer or professional but continue to be seen merely with patriarchal eyes,” he said.
He added that only in the recent past have women started coming to complain against sexual harassment. “There was a time where they used to swallow the bitter pill without raising a complaint about the same, since they feared consequences both in the workplace as well as the society,” the judge said.
The additional advocate general submitted that since the court had decided to monitor the investigation, periodical status reports will be filed by the investigating officer.
The state government has also constituted a six-member committee headed by a woman IAS official to probe the allegations of sexual harassment against the officer.
Not the first instance
According to the News Minute, this is not the first instance of a sexual harassment complaint being raised against an IPS officer in Tamil Nadu. In August 2018, another female officer of the superintendent of police rank had accused the then joint director in the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) of sexually harassing her.
While an internal committee was formed, headed by a DGP-level officer, the complainant later approached the Madras high court to allege that the committee was “favouring the perpetrator”. Though the HC transferred the investigation to the Telangana police, this order was stayed by the Supreme Court in September 2019.
(With PTI inputs)