The law enacted to prevent sexual harassment of women at workplaces should achieve its goal. At the same time it should not become a tool for harassment, said acting Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court Subhro Kamal Mukherjee on Thursday.
He was speaking at an awareness programme, organised for advocates by the Karnataka State Bar Council (KSBC) on the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. Working women from lower strata of society or from lower middle class are more in need of protection compared to those from higher strata, till women achieve financial independence, said Mr. Mukherjee. “It is unfortunate that we have to think about a separate law to protect women 70 years after Independence,” he said
Though there are general provisions in the criminal law to protect women at workplaces, it was the apex court’s landmark verdict in the Vishaka case that ensured elaborate law for protection of women at workplaces, as general laws were not sufficient, he added. The KSBC had constituted the committee to look into complaints of sexual harassments against advocates in 2014 after the apex court expressed displeasure over bar councils across the country not setting up the committees as per the Vishaka verdict guidelines and the new law. Now the KSBC has also a rule for adjudicating the complaints.
