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The Army has launched an investigation into a complaint of sexual harassment made by a woman Army officer against a Brigadier under whose command she was serving in Uttar Pradesh. The woman officer’s complaint has been referred to an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) as per the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act of 2013, commonly known as the PoSH Act.
The complaint was made to the higher chain of command through HQ Uttar Bharat Area in Bareilly and the same was taken cognisance by the Central Command Headquarters in Lucknow.
“A complaint has been received by Army authorities at Bareilly from a woman officer alleging harassment by another officer,” confirmed Shantanu Pratap Singh, Joint Director Public Relations, Ministry of Defence, Lucknow, who handles matters related to HQ Central Command. He added that an ICC has been constituted as per provisions of the PoSH Act and is currently investigating the complaint.
Singh further said that Section 16 of the PoSH Act specifically prohibits any disclosure of the identity of the complainant, respondent and details of proceedings of ICC to the public, media etc. Accordingly, at this stage, no additional information can be shared on the matter since it is statutorily prohibited.
“Indian Army and Central Command remain firmly committed to providing a safe and secure working environment to all ranks and all complaints of such nature are handled with due sensitivity and priority,” he added.
In July this year, the Madras High Court had issued a directive to the Ministry of Defence to ensure the proper existence of the ICC in the defence services. The court’s direction was according to the mandate of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act of 2013.
The directive was made after a woman flight lieutenant in the Indian Air Force (IAF) had to resort to filing a rape complaint against her colleague with the Coimbatore city police due to dissatisfaction with the response of the chain of command of her unit to the incident.
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Justice R N Manjula had emphasised in her order the importance of empowering women in the defence to fight against such violence. The judge also directed defence services personnel to undergo gender sensitisation programmes to achieve the objectives of the PoSH Act of 2013. The high court registry was also instructed to forward a copy of the judgment to the defence secretary and Union home secretary for follow-up action.
The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has also upheld decisions to refer complaints to the ICC under the PoSH Act. An AFT bench has observed that it was incorrect to claim that a serving Army officer cannot be made to face a committee constituted under the Act.
The AFT observed that the Act was a comprehensive legislation to provide for a safe environment, free from all forms of sexual harassment, to every woman irrespective of her age or employment status, by fixing the responsibility on the employers and public authorities.
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