All physical contact does not constitute sexual harassment

Delhi High Court has held that mere accidental physical contact, even though unwelcome, would not amount to sexual harassment.

In the recent Shanta Kumar v The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research case, the petitioner challenged the proceedings conducted by the complaint committee constituted in terms of the office memorandum to examine the charges of sexual harassment levelled by the petitioner against respondent No. 3. The complaint committee exonerated the respondent of all the charges of sexual harassment and its report was accepted by the disciplinary authority. The petitioner also impugned the order passed by the disciplinary authority.

The petitioner had made a complaint regarding an incident that occurred on 29 April 2005 alleging that while she was working at the laboratory, respondent No. 3 had entered the laboratory and stopped the machine and snatched the samples from the petitioner and thrown the materials. He had, thereafter, pushed the petitioner out of the laboratory and used derogatory language against the scheduled caste community. The company constituted a complaint committee which concluded that the complaint was not of sexual harassment, but a case of altercation in the background of the uncongenial environment prevailing in the division.

The dispute digest is compiled by Bhasin & Co, Advocates, a corporate law firm based in New Delhi. The authors can be contacted at lbhasin@bhasinco.in or lbhasin@gmail.com. Readers should not act on the basis of this information without seeking professional legal advice.