Judges, howsoever high, are not immune from charges of sexual harassment at workplace if and when such a charge is made and proved, a Supreme Court-appointed panel has said.
The panel, comprising senior advocates Fali Nariman and P.P. Rao, was appointed by a Bench headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam, hearing a writ petition from a law intern levelling allegations of sexual harassment against Justice Swatanter Kumar, Chairperson of the National Green Tribunal.
In its report submitted to the court on Wednesday, the panel said a continuous course of sexual harassment of women at workplace, if established, would amount to “proved misbehaviour” and would be a ground for removal from high office. If a charge of sexual harassment at work place was made against retired judges of the Supreme Court or the High Court manning judicial tribunals, they would not be protected by the shield of irremovability from office. It wanted the Supreme Court to devise measures similar to the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
