HC authorises officer to deal with sexual harassment cases

The Delhi High Court has put in place a mechanism to deal with sexual harassment complaints within its precincts and also made it clear that anonymous pleas would not be entertained.
Chief Justice G Rohini, acting on the recommendations of the Committee Against Sexual Harassment of Women At Workplace, has said all written complaints would be dealt with by D S Bhandari, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) of the high court administration.
"Any anonymous complaint(s) regarding sexual harassment of women at workplace shall not be entertained," the order, issued by Joint Registrar S P S Premi, said.
It also said the identity of the complainant would be kept secret.

Earlier, the apex court had constituted a 10-member committee headed by its woman judge, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, to deal with complaints of sexual harassment there.
Besides Justice Desai, the Supreme Court Gender Sensitisation and Internal Complaints Committee (GSICC) has six other female members. There are two members who are outsiders and not connected with the apex court in any manner.
The setting up of the GSICC had come close on the heels of a law intern's allegation of sexual harassment against a recently retired Supreme Court judge.