X Vs Union Of India & Ors. (Supreme Court of India)
Supreme Court held that Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 mandates that inquiry report ought to be given to all the concerned parties. Penalty imposed on failure to provide inquiry report.
Facts- The petitioner before this Court was a Constable in the Border Security Force and she made a complaint of sexual harassment against one of the officers, who is not a party in this writ petition.
According to the petitioner, since the BSF had not taken any action on the complaint made by the petitioner, she was constrained to file a writ petition before this Court. In the writ petition, a detailed counter affidavit has been filed. However, the petitioner has not chosen to file any rejoinder affidavit.
Conclusion- Held that Inquiry Report ought to have been given to the victim as it is required to be given under Section 13 (1) to all the “concerned parties”. Petitioner is definitely a concerned party. On the facts of this case where the Inquiry Report was not been given to the petitioner, there has clearly been a violation of Section 13 of the Act. We therefore impose a penalty of Rs. 25,000/ which will be given to the petitioner by the Border Security Force.
