XXXXX Vs. KERALA SOCIAL SECURITY MISSION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This writ petition has been filed by the petitioners seeking to quash Ext. P2 termination order dtd. 14/8/2025 and also to quash all adverse findings recorded against them and to set aside Ext.P3 report of Internal Complaints Committee (ICC).

(2.) The grievance of the petitioners is that the termination of the 1st petitioner as per Ext. P2 order and the adverse consequences visited upon the 2 nd petitioner pursuant to the enquiry conducted by the ICC of the 5 th respondent is arbitrary and illegal and in gross violation of The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act for short) and according to the petitioners, the enquiry was conducted by the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) by violating the principles of natural justice. Neither the copy of the complaint nor the ICC report was supplied to them as required under the statute. It is further contended that the petitioners obtained a copy of the complaint only through the Right to Information Act, 2005, and that too after the passing of Ext. P3 order. It was further contended that they were summoned for enquiry without serving a copy of the complaint; that they were denied the opportunity to cross-examine the complainant and the witnesses and denied the right to know as to who are the witnesses cited in the complaint nor they were permitted to examine their own witnesses. According to the petitioners, they did not get a chance of a fair trial, which constitutes violation of the fundamental principle of audi alteram partem.

(3.) Respondents 1 and 5 filed their statements denying the case of the petitioners. It was contended that the ICC, being a statutory fact-finding body, evaluated the testimony, assessed its consistency, and found sufficient basis to conclude that the petitioners were made aware of the nature of the allegations and were given an opportunity to respond. It was further contended that the termination of the petitioners was not arbitrary but a consequence of the findings of the ICC under the POSH Act, 2013.