GNLU sexual harassment case: Gujarat High Court asks University to ensure that complaints go to ICC sans intervention

The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday asked Gujarat National Law University (GNLU), Gandhinagar to adopt a method to ensure that sexual harassment complaints do not get suppressed or manipulated by anyone before they reach the University's Internal Complaints Committee (ICC). .A Bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha Mayee said that such complaints must be only dealt with by the ICC and there should not be any scope for external interference."Method is to be evolved by the ICC as to how these complaints reach straight to the ICC without any manual intervention so that the complaints aren't suppressed or are manipulated. So that complaints from the students directly go to the ICC," the Chief Justice said. .In response, Advocate Dharmishta Raval, representing GNLU, said that such a mechanism is already in place. Nevertheless, she sought time to get clarity on the same. The Bench noted that GNLU has failed to bring such mechanism on record."You have only informed us about the formation of the ICC but that is not sufficient. How is this ICC working? How are they receiving complaints? What method they have adopted that these complaints aren't suppressed because the perpetrator is also inside the campus?" the Chief Justice queried.The judges added, "For instance, a student wants to lodge a complaint against a professor. The professor may influence everything here. The complaint will never travel to the ICC. How the ICC will ensure that every complaint reaches it without any intervention other than the Secretariat of the ICC?".The Court was hearing a suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) registered after allegations of rape of one student and harassment of another queer student at GNLU arose last year.On the last date of hearing, the University told the Court that it has reconstituted a fact-finding committee to probe the allegations..During today's hearing, amicus assisting the Court suggested setting up of complaint boxes to be manned by police officers or lady officers. The Bench, however, refused to deploy police officers in educational institutions. Advocate General Kamal Trivedi said that the State agreed to having complaint boxes in every institute. However, the Bench said merely keeping complaint boxes would not serve any purpose."Mr AG, what purpose would the complaint box serve in absence of an ICC? So first we need to constitute an ICC which will be free from external pressure etc. The Act mandates there should be sufficient publicity to the ICC, provisions of POSH Act etc," Chief Justice Agarwal underscored. .The Chief Justice further pointed out that the mandatory Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on how one must file a complaint with the ICC, which needs to be given wide publicity, has not been displayed in the High Court. "We even don't have complaint boxes in our High Court. In Allahabad, such complaint boxes were opened on every Saturday. We can have something like this here too," the Chief Justice observed. With these observations, the Bench adjourned the hearing with a directive to the GNLU to file an affidavit stating the mechanism it proposes to adopt to ensure that complaints are not suppressed or manipulated.