BHARATI RAY Vs. DIRECTOR XAVIER INSTITUTE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner who alleges to have been sexually harassed and misbehaved by the Co ordinator of Centre for Development Research and Training (for short, 'CENDERET') of Xavier Institute of Management (for short, 'the Institute'), Bhubaneswar, has prayed for the following directions :

(2.) THE petitioner is working as Senior Programme Manager in the Institute and has filed this writ application with the prayer stated above on the following allegations. She joined the Institute as a Research Assistant in the Department of CENDERET on 1st March, 1989. She was promoted to the post of Senior Research Assistant in January, 1991 and thereafter Senior Research Associate with effect from 1st January, 1995. The said post of Senior Research Associate was re designated as Senior Programme Manager from 1st August, 1999 and she is continuing in the said post. The Institute has an extension wing, namely, CENDERET which was opened in the year 1988 and the purpose of the said Institute is to work for capacity enhancement and enrichment of organisation which are working for the empowerment of rural poors. The CENDERET works as a consultancy organisation for giving training support to large number of NGOs. State Government and Central Government Departments and agencies to impart quality of efficient personnel, consultancy activities, etc. The Department extends consultancy mainly in the area of project appraisals, monitoring and evaluations. The said extension wing of CENDERET is headed by a Co ordinator and the Director of the Institute appoints the Co ordinator to look after the affairs of the CENDERET. From April, 1988 one Shri D.N. Rao, Assistant Professor of the Institute was appointed as the Co ordinator by the Director for a period of two years. Since the joining of Shri D.N. Rao, as Co ordinator, the working atmosphere became polluted to a great extent. Instead of giving a dynamic leadership in the Department/ Extension Wing. Shri Rao virtually started managing the CENDERET in a very autocratic and undemocratic manner and is busy in harassing the employees working in CENDERET, more particularly the lady employees. The petitioner is one such lady employee who has been harassed by Shri Rao. Previously three lady employees, namely, Sumitra Das, Prativa Das and Chandana Das working in CENDERET had represented to the Director in their letter dated 8th March, 1999 indicating the manner in which the Co ordinator of CENDERET Shri Rao harassed them in many forms including sexual harassment. In the said letter they had categorically mentioned how the Co ordinator was passing sexually coloured statements against them and always commenting that unmarried women staff are more competent than married women. The allegation of the petitioner is that she became also a victim of the harassment perpetrated by the Co ordinator Shri Rao, mentally and emotionally. She further alleges that she was also sexually harassed in her working place. The allegation of the petitioner is that Shri Rao uses very rough, derogatory and indecent language to suppress the voice of the lady employees including the petitioner. Giving an example, it is stated that in a meeting held on 5.6.2000 Shri Rao made sexually coloured remarks against the petitioner stating that while she was staying on leave she was frequently coming and passing time with the Director. Shri Rao compelled many times the petitioner and other lady employees to work in the office beyond office hours and also during holidays. When the petitioner objected to such directions which was tainted with immoral purposes, the petitioner was forced to go to Malkangiri and/or Koraput and other distant places when there was no necessity to visit such places whereas other male employees sitting idle were available in the office to visit such places. Similar behaviour has also been meted out to other lady employees working in CENDERET by Shri Rao. After several such incidents, the petitioner before filing the writ application, personally met the Director on 6th and 12th June, 2000 and narrated her trauma and the misbehaviour and sexual harassment made by the Co ordinator Shri Rao and the Director advised the petitioner to find out her own way of protecting herself and also not to make any further complaint against the Co ordinator which may invite disciplinary proceeding or may result in transfer to distant place. Looking at the attitude of the Director, the petitioner sent a lawyer's notice narrating the sexual harassment caused to her by Shri Rao, on 13.6.2000, but no action was taken by the Director which resulted in filing of this writ application.

(3.) SHRI N. C. Panigrahi, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, made the following submissions :