CHENNAI: The Madras High Court will pass interim orders on Wednesday on petitions filed by students of Kalakshetra Foundation seeking orders to reconstitute the internal complaints committee (ICC) and evolve a gender-neutral policy for dealing with sexual harassment complaints.
After long arguments on the matter, Justice M Dhandapani said he would pass interim orders on Wednesday. The Kalashetra Foundation filed an action-taken report on complaints raised by students on the alleged sexual harassment.
Appearing for the centre, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) ARL Sundaresan said the ICC has been reconstituted and steps will be taken to establish a gender-neutral mechanism for addressing such issues.
However, senior counsel R Vaigai, representing the students, pressed for reconstitution of the ICC with neutral members and questioned the need to constitute a committee headed by retired judge Justice Kannan.
She said the aggrieved students cannot be made to run from one committee to another to depose and it would mentally affect them. She questioned the rationale behind appointing Revathy Ramachandran, a director of Kalakshetra Foundation, as a member of ICC saying that a disciplinary authority cannot be a member of the inquiry committee. As per UGC guidelines on internal complaints bodies in educational institutions, a representative of students shall also be included in the ICC, Vaigai stressed.
Counsel questions need to form panel under retd judge
Senior counsel R Vaigai, representing the students, pressed for reconstitution of the ICC with neutral members and questioned the need to constitute a committee headed by retired judge Justice Kannan.