REHANA KAUSAR Vs. UT OF J&K

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has challenged enquiry report dtd. 8/2/2021 rendered by respondent No.2 as also order No.818-JK(HME) of 2020 dtd. 23/10/2020, whereby Complaints Committee under Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (hereinafter referred to as the Act of 2013), has been constituted for enquiring into the complaints of sexual harassment against women employees of the Health and Medical Education Department and its subordinate offices. A consequent direction has been sought commanding the respondents to re-constitute the Complaints Committee under the Act of 2013 and to hold a de novo enquiry into the allegations of sexual harassment of the petitioner at the hands of respondent No.4.

(2.) Briefly stated, the case of the petitioner is that on 13/12/2019, she received a phone call from respondent No.4 who was posted as Director Health Services, Kashmir, at the relevant time and the said respondent communicated highly objectionable sexual innuendos to the petitioner in an inebriated state. According to the petitioner, behaviour of respondent No.4 was highly distasteful and unwelcome. At the relevant time, the petitioner was working as Consultant MCH in the Directorate of Health Services, Kashmir. It is alleged that after the aforesaid incident, respondent No.4 continued to harass the petitioner in one way or the another. In this regard, respondent No.4 issued order No.DHSK/PS/4130-36 dtd. 14/12/2019, whereby he withdrew the charge of National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP) from the petitioner and created an atmosphere of intimidation and hostility for the petitioner. On 25/12/2019, the official vehicle of the petitioner was also withdrawn by respondent No.4, whereafter in the month of January, 2020, respondent No.4 did not allow the petitioner to proceed to Delhi to attend NPCC meeting . It is alleged by the petitioner that she was harassed on numerous occasions by respondent No.4 un-necessarily for one reason or the other. Another incident which has been narrated by the petitioner relates to 23/1/2021, when she was allegedly made to wait in the lobby of SKICC just to humiliate her. It is further alleged that respondent No.4 called the petitioner several times privately to sit in his office. It is also alleged that the petitioner applied for Surveillance Medical Officer in World Health Organization and later on for the post of Registrar/Demonstrator in Government Medical College, Srinagar, but on both occasions, respondent No.4 did not relieve the petitioner in order to further humiliate and harass her.

(3.) The petitioner is stated to have lodged a complaint with respondent No.1 through email and Whatsapp on 28/4/2020 and 5/5/2020 respectively, however, no action was taken by the said respondent. Thereafter respondent No.4, vide order No.554-JK(HME) of 2020 dtd. 22/7/2020, relieved the petitioner from the charge of Epidemiologist and she was asked to report to her original place of posting i.e., SDH, Kangan. According to the petitioner, this was done just to harass and intimidate her, although respondent No.4 had no authority to pass such order. It has been submitted that the aforesaid order was later on revoked by respondent No.2 in terms of Government Order No.817-JK(HME) of 2020 dtd. 23/10/2020.