HC asks BARC to promptly look into sexual harassment complaint

The Bombay High Court has asked the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) to expeditiously look into complaint of sexual harassment made by a woman employee and place it before its internal complaints committee.

In an order passed on Wednesday, a bench of Justices Akil Kureshi and S J Kathawalla directed BARC to communicate its decision over the petitioner's complaint to her within the next three months.

It also directed BARC to look into any other pending complaints of sexual harassment in the government organisation, which comes under the Department of Atomic Energy, and place the same before the committee.

The directions came while the bench was hearing a plea filed by the petitioner, who works with BARC here, challenging an October 2012 decision passed by the "Women's Cell" at the research facility that had dismissed her complaint of sexual harassment.

The petitioner had made the said complaint before her employers in May 2012. She had made complaints against several of her colleagues and requested the Women's Cell to take appropriate action.

However, as per the HC order, the cell ruled that her complaint "did not fall within the purview of sexual harassment."
The counsel for BARC, however, maintained before the HC that its cell was proper and that the petitioner's complaint did not "prima facie disclose any element of sexual harassment."