Vishaka &
Others vs State Of Rajasthan & Others on 13 August, 1997
Introduction
Sexual harassment
in the workplace has always been one of the most crucial social issues in India
and in the case of Vishaka & Ors vs State Of Rajasthan & Ors, honourable
Supreme Court of India had made a landmark judgment regarding this social
issue. In this regard, it is to be noted that this kind of harassment is often
termed as “Eve Teasing” in India and acts such as uninvited touching, passing
abusive jokes or comments showing sexually blunt pictures and appealing for sex
come under sexual harassment. Article 14 of the Constitution of India prohibits
any discrimination on the ground of sex and due to this reason, sexual
harassment or eve teasing violates the fundamental right of a woman. On the
other hand, sexual harassment in the workplace violates the fundamental right
of a woman to have a dignified life as prescribed under Article 21 of the
Constitution of India. The judgment of Vishaka & Ors vs State Of Rajasthan
& Ors case was the result of the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) put in
the court by Vishaka, which was a group of NGOs. This was made as a writ
petition in order to enforce the fundamental right of Bhanwari Devi, who was
the victim of gang rape in the workplace.
Facts
The aforementioned the case had the following facts:
1) Bhanwari
Devi, after whom the petition was filed, was an employee of the state
government of Rajasthan.
2) Bhanwari
Devi was gang-raped for her afford of preventing child marriage, which was
conducted by the victim as a part of her duty as a social worker.
3) The
victim was brutally gang-raped by the landlords of the community.
4) The
Trial Court had made a verdict in favour of the rapists and such rapists were allowed to go free.
5) This
incident amounted the involvement of Vishaka, which was a collection of NGOs.
6) The
writ petition was filed on the ground of violation of Article 14,19 and 21.
7) There
was no direct law regarding the consequence of sexual harassment in the
workplace.
Issue
The issue of the
case was to determine whether the enactment of the guidelines is to be said as
mandatory for the repudiation of sexual harassment of women at any workplace.
Judgment
The judgment of the
above-mentioned case was made by the Supreme Court on the ground that
fundamental rights as given by the Indian Constitution through Article 14, 19
and 21 must not be violated and everyone must have a safe working environment
to continue any profession or trade. In any workplace, the employers were found
responsible for providing a safe working environment to the staffs. The Supreme
Court held in this case that every woman has the fundamental right towards the
safe working environment in the workplace. Thus, the safety in terms of sexual
harassment is also to be provided by the employers to all women work
under his or her employment.
The Supreme Court
of India had further made a clarification regarding the term of Sexual
Harassment. According to this definition, any physical touch, showing of
pornography, any sexual desire towards women and any unpleasant misbehaviour
will come under the ambit of sexual harassment.
Conclusion
In the case of
Vishaka & Ors vs State Of Rajasthan & Ors, the Supreme Court
defined the sexual harassment. Previously, there was no such
definition provided in the legal scriptures in India. This made the case a
pioneer for the protection of women rights in the workplace. Apart from this, the
apex court of the country had clearly mentioned that the employers are
responsible for any violation of fundamental rights in the workplace.
Bibliography
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