ABC & Associates, Company Secretaries (ABC Firm) is a partnership firm having 5 partners. Each of the partners are Fellow member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. ABC is having presence in Mumbai. All

CS Professional · Labour Laws & Practice · PYQS · June 2022
ABC & Associates, Company Secretaries (ABC Firm) is a partnership firm having 5 partners. Each of the partners are Fellow member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. ABC is having presence in Mumbai. All the 5 partners (all male) are having industry exposures and specialised in Secretarial Audits, Direct and Indirect Taxation, Company Formation, RoC related matters, FEMA and all other compliances related matters. All the partners are also Insolvency Professionals and Registered Valuers enrolled with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India. The ABC Firm is also having some management trainees and paid employees and total staff strength is 38 (20 Management Trainees and 18 Professional employees). Among the 20 Management Trainees (MT), Shanaya, one of the MT, who is a young lady, takes leave on and often, pretending some stories. The work assigned to her also used to get suffer and her immediate boss was also not satisfied with her working. In every CS Exam time, she used to take leave of at least one month in advance, but with no good result. Even in office hours, it was being observed that she used to chat with her friends on mobile and surfing on social sites on the office PCs/Laptops. Shanaya was given a task to collect data from some of the clients in order to file their GST Returns. But as usual, she did not collected the required information and due to this the clients were fined for delayed filing of the returns. Her boss Narendra warned her not to repeat such incidences and be serious in attending the official work. The ABC Firm used to have an office meeting on every Saturday at 4 pm. On 9th October, 2021, the office meeting was scheduled and all the MTs and employees were present to show their report card i.e. 'Work Done Report' during the week, and Plan for the next week. Each of the MT/Employee was categorically analysed individually and appropriate instructions were being given. When the Shanaya's turn came, Narendra (her boss) expressed his displeasure regarding the working of Shanaya and narrated the financial loss suffered by the clients. The Managing Partner (Vikram Singh) of the firm asked Shanaya, to be more vigilant in meeting out the statutory obligations, in order to maintain the reputation of the firm. This time, Shanaya took it very seriously and after a few days later, she approached Vikram Singh (Managing Partner of the ABC Firm) alleging that Narendra is sexually harassing her. She denied of not given the task of collecting and filing of the GST Returns and delayed filing of returns, was the sole responsibility of Narendra and not of her. She said that Narendra on and often calls her, in his cabin and speaks the un-desirable languages. She also showed some WhatsApp chat which was shared from Narendra's Mobile to Shanaya's Mobile, containing some explicit languages. Due to these reason, she does not like to come in the office and feel ashamed. Vikram Singh, calmly listened her and asked her to make a written complaint. He called on Narendra in the evening (when all the office staff left) and discussed the matter in length and to submit his comments. Incidentally, the whole of the office was under the supervision of the CCTV cameras. The recordings were kept safely in a separate device. The comments of the other MTs and the Staff were also recorded. From the CCTV recordings, a video footage was observed. Narendra was called by one client on his mobile asking for some information for which Shanaya was having the information. So Narendra came out of his cabin and handed over his mobile to Shanaya, to talk with that client. Shanaya took the advantage of this moment and sent some explicit language from Narendra's Mobile to her own mobile and then deleted the messages from Narendra's mobile. Shanaya was showed this CCTV footage, when she was holding the mobile of Narendra and typing something. She later committed that it was done by her only, since Narendra has made negative comments on her working in the office meeting. Base on the above facts, answer the following questions: What are the consequence, if any wrong complaint is made by woman ?

Answer & Explanation:

Punishment for false or malicious complaint and false evidence is prescribed under section 14 of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. Section 14(1) of the Act provides that where the Internal Committee or the Local Committee, as the case may be, arrives at a conclusion that the allegation against the respondent is malicious or the aggrieved woman or any other person making the complaint has made the complaint knowing it to be false or the aggrieved woman or any other person making the complaint has produced any forged or misleading document, it may recommend to the employer or the District Officer, as the case may be, to take action against the woman or the person who has made the complaint under section 9, as the case may be, in accordance with the provisions of the service rules applicable to her or him or where no such service rules exist, in such manner as may be prescribed. However, a mere inability to substantiate a complaint or provide adequate proof need not attract action against the complainant under this section. Further, the malicious intent on part of the complainant shall be established after an inquiry in accordance with the procedure prescribed, before any action is recommended. Section 14(2) of the Act provides that where the Internal Committee or the Local Committee, as the case may be, arrives at a conclusion that during the inquiry any witness has given false evidence or produced any forged or misleading document, it may recommend to the employer of the witness or the District Officer, as the case may be, to take action in accordance with the provisions of the service rules applicable to the said witness or where no such service rules exist, in such manner as may be prescribed. Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Rules, 2013 Rule 10 provides for action for false or malicious complaint or false evidence which is applicable in cases where service rules do not exist. Where the Complaints Committee arrives at the conclusion that the allegation against the respondent is malicious or the aggrieved woman or any other person making the complaint has made the complaint knowing it to be false or the aggrieved woman or any other person making the complaint has produced any forged or misleading document, it may recommend to the employer or District Officer, as the case may be, to take action in accordance with the provisions of Rule 9 i.e. including a written apology, warning, reprimand or censure, withholding of promotion, withholding of pay rise or increments, terminating the respondent from service or undergoing a counselling session or carrying out community service.

Topics: Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act)

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