Sexual harassment panel can recommend transfer of accused:Govt

A committee set up to redress complaints of victims of sexual harassment at workplace can recommend transfer of the charged officer or grant leave to the affected woman upto three months, the government told Parliament today.
Minister of State for the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) Jitendra Singh said instructions have been issued by his department vide an Office Memorandum of November 27, 2014 regarding Alignment of Service Rules with the sexual harassment of women at workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
"As per para 6 of the said OM, the complaint committee will have the powers to recommend to the employer to transfer the aggrieved woman or the charged officer to any other workplace or to grant leave to the aggrieved woman up to a period of three months, which will be in addition to the leave she would be otherwise entitled to," he said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

As per Section 9 of Chapter IV of the said Act, he said, "any aggrieved woman may make, in writing, a complaint of sexual harassment at workplace to the internal committee within a period of three months from the date of incident and in case of a series of incidents, within a period of three months from the date of last incident.
"The committee may, for the reasons to be recorded in writing, extend the time limit not exceeding three months, if it is satisfied that the circumstances were such which prevented the woman from filing a complaint within the said period.