Supreme Court orders reinstatement of officer who raised sexual harassment complaint
1 min read . Updated: 10 Feb 2022, 11:33 AM IST
Premium- The Supreme Court directed the reinstatement of the woman judge who raised a sexual harassment complaint against a then sitting judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2014
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the reinstatement of the woman judge who raised a sexual harassment complaint against a then sitting judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
The woman judge had sought reinstatement on the grounds that she was forced to resign in 2014, following an inquiry into her allegations of sexual harassment against a high court judge.
A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai set aside the order accepting her resignation and directed her reinstatement as additional district judge in the Madhya Pradesh judiciary. The apex court, however, said that she would not be entitled to back wages.
The woman, in her plea, has said that the high court had ignored the categorical finding in the report of the Judges Inquiry Committee dated December 15, 2017, terming the petitioner's resignation dated July 15, 2014, from her post of Additional District Judge "unbearable circumstances having no other option."
Meanwhile, the apex court on Thursday said it would consider a submission seeking the listing of a plea for transferring a case on the hijab row from the Karnataka High Court to itself. The bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said the high court is seized of the case and should be allowed to continue with the hearing and decide it.
Seeking transfer of the case and hearing by a nine-judge bench at the top court, senior advocate Kapil Sibal said, “The problem is that schools and colleges are closed. Girls are being stoned. It’s spreading across the country."
After being told by Sibal that he did not want any order and only listing of the plea, the CJI said, “We will see." On Wednesday, Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi constituted a full bench, comprising himself and Justices Krishna S Dixit and J M Khazi, which will look into the hijab matter on Thursday.
