Settlement of Sexual Harassment Complaints through Conciliation

 Article

Settlement of Sexual Harassment Complaints through Conciliation

 

There are two modes of disposal of sexual harassment complaints at workplace. First is through conciliation amongst the complainant and the respondent and the second is by initiating an enquiry into the complaint to find out its authenticity and penalize the offender, if found guilty.

 

In case the complaint is found to be malicious then the case shall be closed and action may be taken against the complainant for filing false or malicious complaint.

 

Settlement through Conciliation: Section 10 of the Act provides for conciliation to arrive at a settlement between the aggrieved woman and the perpetrator, through mutual understanding. The internal committee or local committee should make an effort for amicable settlement of the dispute between the two. However, such a settlement can only be done at the request of the aggrieved women, in writing.

 

The law of natural justice requires that such conciliation is without fear or favour, threat, duress, coercion; or influence of any pressure group, etc. This should be done as per free will of the complainant, without threat of victimisation.  The internal committee or the local committee may, therefore, take steps to settle the matter amicably, before initiating an inquiry.

 

The Hand Book on Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace’ prepared by Government of India Ministry of Women and Child Development suggests as under:

 

“If the complainant chooses to adopt the informal process to resolve her complaint/experience of workplace sexual harassment, then it is the responsibility of the person designated to receive and manage the Complaints Committee to explore enabling ways to address the complaint. This can include counselling, educating, orienting, or warning the respondent to promptly stop the unwelcome behaviour or appointing a neutral person to act as a conciliator between the parties to resolve the complaint through conciliation.

 

However, before recommending conciliation, the Committee must assess the severity of the situation and if necessary, advise and enable the complainant to opt for the formal route. At no point, the Complaints Committee will advise the complainant to resolve the matter directly with the respondent. Where such an informal process is successful, such resolution is to be recorded by the conciliator and forwarded to the ICC/LCC who in turn will forward the same to the employer/District Officer for further action based on the resolution. Employers/District Officers are responsible for taking steps to ensure that the complainant is not subject to any backlash. The choice of a formal process rests with the complainant even if the person responsible for managing the complaint believes that this can be resolved through an informal process.”

 

Such a settlement should not be based on any monetary consideration. Where a settlement has been so arrived the internal committee or the local committee shall record the settlement and forward the same to the employer or the District Officer to take action as specified in the recommendation.

 

The internal committee or the local committee shall provide copies of the settlement, as recorded, to the aggrieved woman and the respondent. After a settlement has been made no further inquiry shall be conducted by the Committee concerned. Section 10 of the Act reads as under:

 

“10. Conciliation.—(1) The Internal Committee or, as the case may be, the Local Committee, may, before initiating an inquiry under section 11 and at the request of the aggrieved woman take steps to settle the matter between her and the respondent through conciliation:

Provided that no monetary settlement shall be made as a basis of conciliation.

(2) Where settlement has been arrived at under sub-section (1), the Internal Committee or the Local Committee, as the case may be, shall record the settlement so arrived and forward the same to the employer or the District Officer to take action as specified in the recommendation.

(3) The Internal Committee or the Local Committee, as the case may be, shall provide the copies of the settlement as recorded under sub-section (2) to the aggrieved woman and the respondent.

(4) Where a settlement is arrived at under sub-section (1), no further inquiry shall be conducted by the Internal Committee or the Local Committee, as the case may be.”

 

Such a mutual settlement may provide prompt relief to the aggrieved woman from humiliation, mental torture and aggravating the situation. However, it is felt that conciliation in such serious offences may not prove to be deterrent. It may embolden the offender to continue to commit similar offences against others, in future.

 

Implementation of decision taken under conciliation proceedings: In case a settlement has been reached but not implemented then the aggrieved woman may inform the concerned Committee that any term or condition of the settlement arrived at has not been complied with by the respondent.

In such cases the internal committee or the local committee shall proceed to make an inquiry into the complaint or may forward it to the police. Such offences are, however, non-cognizable.