The Delhi High Court on December 16 held the Director General of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)-run National Cadet Corps (DGNCC) guilty of contempt of court for failing to comply with an earlier sexual harassment complaint lodged against a woman police officer.
The court was hearing a plea before the NCC filed by a permanent whole-time female police officer (WTLO) who lodged a complaint against a male officer under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013, known as for the POSH Act.
Justice Manoj Jain recorded that the DGNCC had “willfully and willfully disobeyed” its orders in February after the woman moved the High Court claiming that the DGNCC had failed to comply with a previous order of the court in the same matter.
“…the DGNCC’s decision in the petitioner’s case raises concerns about bias. This is because the DGNCC oversees the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) and justified its decision in its appeal letter dated April 10, 2024. Furthermore, the petitioners were denied the opportunity for a fair hearing and their representations were not considered by the District Attorney. [disciplinary authority]. This omission is concerning as the role of the DA is crucial to ensuring fair and impartial proceedings under the POSH Act. Therefore, the impugned decision conveyed in the video letter dated April 10, 2024, has no legal effect,” the court said.
“In order to clear itself of its contemptuous attitude”, the court directed the DGNCC to forward the petitioner’s representation to the DA, the Ministry of Defence, and take a decision on her representation after giving her an opportunity to be heard within three weeks from the date of filing of the petition. Order.
The court further directed that in the event of failure to comply with this order, the DGNCC “shall appear before this Court for a hearing regarding the amount of the sentence or penalty imposed in accordance with law.” It also requires compliance reports to be submitted by February 1, 2025.
On February 12 this year, dissatisfied with the findings and recommendations of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), the female police officer filed a complaint with the Delhi High Court requesting that the ICC’s supplementary recommendations be set aside.
While she withdrew the petition a day later as she had alternative remedies under the provisions of the POSH Act, she filed a second petition on February 14 after the DGNCC did not respond to her submissions with any substance Book.
On February 19, the Delhi High Court directed the DGNCC to consider the woman’s representatives as an appeal under Section 18 of the POSH Act and further directed them to forward the appeal to the appellate authority under the Central Civil Service (Classification, Control and Appeals) rule.
In her contempt petition, the woman claimed that the DGNCC failed to comply with the court’s February order “and instead issued completely irrelevant and evasive responses, as exemplified by their alleged correspondence of April 10, 2024,” according to It is consistent with this Court’s specific instructions to say that the communication addressed matters unrelated to the case. “
She also pointed out that the DGNCC chose to act as both the DA and the Appellate Authority (AA) while dealing with her case, whereas the rules provide that the Ministry of Defense is the DA and the President of India acts as the Appellate Authority. She was allegedly not given a hearing.
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