Madras High Court directs Kalakshetra Foundation to frame policy to prevent sexual harassment, gender discrimination

The Madras High Court on Wednesday directed Kalakshetra Foundation to frame a policy against gender discrimination and sexual harassment of staff as well as students of colleges and schools run by it in Chennai, and ordered that the complaints committee related to schools must have parents as well as teachers’ representatives in it.

The Madras High Court on Wednesday directed Kalakshetra Foundation to frame a policy against gender discrimination and sexual harassment of staff as well as students of colleges and schools run by it in Chennai, and ordered that the complaints committee related to schools must have parents as well as teachers’ representatives in it.

Justice M. Dhandapani passed the interim orders on a writ petition filed by seven students of the Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts run by the foundation. Representing them, Senior Counsel R. Vaigai had insisted upon the formulation of a proper safety policy and a robust mechanism to address complaints regarding sexual and other kinds of harassment.

At the end of last month, students of Kalakshetra Foundation had staged a demonstration demanding action against certain faculty members who, they said, had been sexually harassing students. Police action followed, and one faculty member was eventually arrested.

Accepting Ms. Vaigai’s plea, the judge directed the institution to frame a policy. He made it clear that the policy must be in accordance with the provisions of all laws against sexual harassment, the University Grants Commission regulations, Central Board of Secondary Education guidelines and National Commission for Protection of Child Rights norms.

The judge also called for the profiles of the members as well as the chairperson of an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) that had already been constituted by the foundation on April 3 this year as per the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act of 2013.

He wanted the profiles to be submitted by June 7 so that he could decide whether there was any necessity to reconstitute the ICC. The judge also made a clarification with respect to another interim order passed on April 17 when an undertaking was given by the foundation that it shall not take any coercive action against faculty and students.

Justice Dhandapani clarified that the undertaking would be applicable only to the faculty members and students who had raised certain concerns during a sensitisation meeting conducted by the previous ICC on January 3, pursuant to a demonstration conducted by the students, and not to any other faculty members in the institution.