Kerala High Court notifies regulations to curb sexual harassment on premises; constitutes special ICC

The Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court has notified regulations to prevent sexual harassment of women at the High Court..The regulations aim to provide redressal mechanism to women lawyers and litigants who come to the High Court.The regulations titled "The Gender Sensitisation & Sexual Harassment of Women at the High Court of Kerala (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Regulations, 2026" were notified in the Kerala gazette on March 17.The regulations aim to address sexual harassment at the High Court in line with the Vishaka guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court. They were drafted by a committee appointed by the High Court to frame guidelines to ensure a safe working environment for women in the precincts of Court. .The Regulations define sexual harassment as any one or more of the following unwelcome acts or behaviour (whether directly or by implication) committed within the High Court precincts:Physical contact and advances;Demand or request for sexual favours;Making sexually coloured remarks;Showing or exhibiting pornography and/or sexually explicit material by any means;Sending undesirable sexually coloured oral or written messages, text messages, e-mail messages, or any such messages by electronic, manual or other means;Stalking or consistently following aggrieved woman;Voyeurism including overt or tacit observation by any means of the aggrieved woman in her private moments;Any conduct whereby the accused man takes advantage of his position and subjects the aggrieved woman to any form of sexual harassment and seeks sexual favours especially while holding out career advancements whether explicitly or implicitly, as an incentive or a natural result of submitting to the insinuations/ demands of the Respondent;Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non- verbal conduct of sexual nature;implied or explicit promise of preferential treatment in her career or employment;Implied or explicit threat of detrimental treatment in her career or employment;Implied or explicit threat about her present or future career or employment;Interference with her work or creating an intimidating or offensive or hostile work environment for her, orAny treatment having a sexual colour or content likely to affect her emotional and/or physical health or safety..Any woman who claims to have been subjected to any of these acts on High Court premises can avail the benefits of the Regulations.However, the regulations do not cover any woman employees/ staff at the High Court who are governed by the Service Rules of the Government of Kerala or any female employee of the Advocate General's (AG's) Office governed by the Kerala State and Subordinate Service Rules, 1958. These exclusions were made as both the Kerala High Court and the AG's office already have Internal Complaints Committees in place in line with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act).Thus, the new regulations aim to give remedy to women visiting the court including women lawyers, litigants, members of the public etc..The Regulations provide for the Chief Justice to constitute a Gender Sensitisation & Internal Complaints Committee (GSICC) to sensitise the public to gender issues and address any complaints made with regard to sexual harassment on High Court premises. The GSICC will have between 7-13 members and shall include, as far as possible:1-2 judges of the High Court to be nominated by the Chief Justice;1-2 advocates (at least 1 of whom is a woman) who have been members of the Kerala High Court Advocates' Association (KHCAA) for at least 20 years to be nominated by the Chief Justice;1-2 KHCAA members (at least 1 of whom is a woman) who have been members for at least 10 years to be nominated by KHCAA;1 woman member nominated by the Kerala Federation of Women Lawyers;1 woman member of the Kerala High Court Clerks’ Association;1-2 outside members nominated by the Chief Justice who are associated with the State Department of Women & Child Development or a relevant NGO;1 woman officer in the service of the High Court not below the rank of Deputy Registrar to be nominated by the Chief Justice;1 woman officer not below the rank of Under Secretary in the service of the AG's office nominated by the Kerala AG; andany other member that the Chief Justice may deem fit to nominate. The majority of the members shall be women. One of the judges nominated by the Chief Justice shall be the Chairperson and the woman officer in service of the High Court not below the rank of Deputy Registrar shall function as the Member Secretary of the GSICC. The term of each member of the GSICC will be for a period of two years and no member will be nominated for more than two consecutive terms.The GSICC will meet at least once in three months in a calendar year and whenever found necessary..With regards to its duties to further gender sensititsation, the GSICC is tasked with the following:ensure publicisation of the policy on gender sensitisation and prevention and redressal of sexual harassment in the High Court precincts;organise programmes for gender sensitisation through workshops, seminars, posters, film shows, debates, displays etc.;enlist and activate an adequately representative team of volunteers whose services shall be made available at all times to any aggrieved woman or any person in need of consultation or guidance;enlist NGOs, lawyers, lawyers’ bodies, legal services institutions or educational institutions to carry out these programmes as needed; and organize and train members and volunteers to equip them to handle sexual harassment cases including legal and medical aid..The GSICC will be responsible to ensure that there is quick and responsive crisis management, counselling and mediation available to all aggrieved women. It is also tasked with coordinating with the security services of the High Court to devise ways to prevent sexual harassment on the premises..Any aggrieved woman can make a complaint in writing to the GSICC through the Member Secretary within 3 months from the date of incident and in case of a series of incidents, within a period of three months from the date of the last incident. The GSICC can grant an extension of the time limit in certain cases. On receiving a complaint, the GSICC will constitute an Internal Sub-Committee to conduct a fact finding inquiry, which shall comprise of three members of the GSICC with majority members being women, and at least one person being an outside member. The fact finding inquiry into a complaint must be completed within 90 days of the constitution of the Internal Sub-Committee.The Internal Sub-Committee must provide its inquiry report with its findings along with a complete record of the proceedings to the GSICC within 10 days after completing the inquiry. The GSICC must then formulate its recommendations and place it before the Chief Justice within 15 days. .The Chief Justice, upon receipt of the inquiry report and recommendations of the GSICC, will afford an opportunity of hearing to the parties. After hearing the parties, the Chief Justice may pass appropriate orders. In case the accused party is not exonerated, punishments may include admonition, admonishment publicised on High Court premises and website, prohibition from harassing the woman in any manner including by barring communication, barring entry into High Court precincts for a specified amount of time upto one year, or recommendation for filing of a criminal complaint and/or a complaint before the disciplinary authority (including the Bar Council) concerned..The regulations also make it clear that the names and identities of the aggreived women are not to be made public under any circumstance. It also provides for protection of action taken in good faith by prohibiting legal proceedings against the Chief Justice, GSICC, Internal Sub-Committee or its members in respect of anything which is done in pursuance of the Regulations..[Read Regulations].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.