SUNEETI TOTEJA Vs. STATE OF U.P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted.

(2.) The present Criminal Appeal arises out of the order dtd. 16/11/2022 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench, in Application u/s 482 No.8057/2022, wherein the High Court has dismissed the petition filed by the appellant herein for quashing of the summoning order dtd. 12/7/2022 and the chargesheet No.01/2022 dtd. 2/7/2022.

(3.) The appellant herein is stated to be an employee of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Briefly stated, the facts giving rise to the present case are that Dr. Manisha Narayan, the respondent No.2 herein (hereinafter referred to as "complainant") had filed FIR No.610/2018 dtd. 30/10/2018 at the Aliganj Police Station, District Lucknow. It was stated in the said FIR that during her tenure with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (hereinafter "FSSAI" or "authority") in New Delhi in the capacity of an Associate Director, she was sexually harassed on multiple occasions by Dr. S.S. Ghonkrorkta, the Enforcement Director therein. Being aggrieved, she disclosed the same to her mother who then filed a complaint before the FSSAI for action to be taken under the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (hereinafter "POSH Act"). An Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) was constituted to investigate the allegations of the complainant and the enquiry was referred to the ICC on 4/12/2014. The enquiry report of the ICC was submitted to the Chief Executive Officer of FSSAI on 22/6/2015, which found Dr. S.S. Ghonkrorkta to be guilty of the offences charged against him and thereby it was recommended to the Authority to register an FIR against him for offences under Ss. 354, 509, 192, 197, 204, 218, 202 and 120B of Indian Penal Code, 1860 (hereinafter "IPC"), apart from taking appropriate disciplinary action against the other officers involved in the misconduct.