The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain two petitions seeking to take cognisance of statements of sexual harassment made during the #MeToo campaign and prosecution of the accused.
A Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S.K. Kaul and K.M. Joseph said that if there was any cognisable offence, there was a procedure to be followed under the law.
“The issues highlighted would be considered by the court in the event an aggrieved person moves the court. The writ petition is, therefore, not entertained on the aforesaid ground. The same is, accordingly, dismissed,” the Bench said.
The court was dealing with petitions filed by M.L. Sharma and Mahesh Kumar Tiwari on the issue of sexual assault on women.
Mr. Sharma contended that the National Commission for Women has not acted on so many cases that have come to light under the #MeToo movement.
He had sought the direction of the top court to treat public statements of the women on social media platforms as cognisable information and register criminal cases to prosecute the accused in accordance with law.
On the other hand, advocate Mr. Tiwari in his plea contended that there was no proper implementation of the law against sexual harassment at workplace.
