Report clearing Air France officer of sexual harassment invalid: HC

The high court set aside the ICC report exonerating the official, a French national who was handling its cargo business in India, Nepal and Bhutan in 2013, of all charges, observing that the "Vishaka guidelines are to be taken seriously, and not followed in a ritualistic manner".

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dubbed as "invalid" an internal complaints panel of Air France set up to deal with sexual harassment charges levelled by an Indian woman staffer against a former senior officer of the airline.

It directed the French national carrier to reconstitute its internal complaints committee (ICC) in 30 days "in strict compliance with the requirements under law" and ordered the panel to conduct a fresh inquiry.

The high court set aside the ICC report exonerating the official, a French national who was handling its cargo business in India, Nepal and Bhutan in 2013, of all charges, observing that the "Vishaka guidelines are to be taken seriously, and not followed in a ritualistic manner".

The guidelines are a set of procedures for use in India to deal with the cases of sexual harassment at the workplace.

A bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and A K Chawla set aside the proceedings of the ICC and its report, saying it has not conducted the matter "according to principles of natural justice".

The court also noted that the sudden termination of employment of the woman "also raises concerns regarding there being bias in the proceedings of the ICC". "Apart from non-compliance in the composition, and the alleged bias by members of the ICC, that body did not take steps to lend confidence or assurance to the appellant (woman) as she repeatedly raised concerns of not feeling comfortable in the manner in which the proceedings were being conducted and also expressed her discomfort in being around the accused, which was so vital for the fairness in the enquiry, and mandated by Vishaka," the bench said, while allowing her plea.

The court noted in its verdict that "decision makers, Parliament, courts and employers are to be ever vigilant in ensuring that effective policies are swiftly and impartially enforced to ensure justice and see that no one is subjected to unwelcome - and unacceptable behaviour".

The bench said that unlike stray cases of individual indiscipline, it was the primary obligation of employers to ensure effective implementation of the laws and rules aimed at securing a safe workplace for women employees.

"A permissiveness or infraction in implementation in one case, implies the employer's lack of will or inability to assure such safety and equality at its workplace. A complainant who takes courage to speak out against unwelcome behaviour regardless of the perpetrator is not merely an object of pity or sympathy," the bench said, adding "upon us all - the employer, courts and society as a whole, lies the duty to root out such wholly unwholesome behaviour".

The judgement came on the woman's plea challenging a single judge order declining to continue hearing her petition against the ICC proceedings on account of lack of territorial jurisdiction.

In her plea before the single judge, she had claimed that the ICC proceedings were not conducted in accordance with law or the principles of natural justice. She had also challenged the constitution of the ICC as being contrary to the provisions of the Workplace Harassment Prohibition Act, 2013.

The single judge had on January 30 said the high court lacked the territorial jurisdiction to hear the matter. On the same day, the ICC passed its final report exonerating the French national, who was the Marketing Manager, Cargo (India, Nepal and Bhutan) in 2013, of all allegations and charges.