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Case Name - Court On Its Own Motion vs State of Jharkhand & Ors
Case Citation - W.P.(PIL) No. 1305 of 2020
Parties Involved -
Appellant - Court on its Own
Respondent - State of Jharkhand and Ors
Relevant Acts and Sections -
Facts of the Case
The court issued guidelines to ensure safety and security measures to protect young girls and women in general.
Issues of the Case
This case got issued as a matter of "Public Interest Litigation." Newspapers indicated a high rise in the eve-teasing of girls and women in Schools, Colleges, Universities, and Workplaces in the city of Ranchi.
Judgment of the Case
According to section 294 of the Indian Penal code, whoever, to the annoyance of others, does any obscene act in public; sings or recites any obscene song, narrative, or words in or near any public place shall get punished with imprisonment of either for a term of 3 months or fine or both. The burden is on the prosecution to prove that the accused committed an obscene act or sang, recited, or uttered any obscene song and that it gets done in or near a public place. Usually, it is a difficult task to establish those facts, and rarely complaints are being filed, and criminal cases take years, and often the accused gets away with no punishment.
According to section 509 of the IPC, any word, sign, or act that is done intending it to be seen or heard by any woman to insult the modesty and privacy of a woman is a punishable offense and can result in imprisonment for either 1 year or fine or both. Again, the burden of proof is on the prosecution to prove that the accused did such a thing with the intent to be seen or heard by one or some women, thus violating her/their modesty. It is hard to prove such a thing, and it consumes a year, making effective measures to curb eve-teasing as the need of the hour.
In todays' generation, teasing has become serious and heinous. It got categorized into verbal eve-teasing, physical eve-teasing, psychological harassment, and sexual harassment through some objects.
In the case of Vishaka v. the State of Rajasthan, this Court laid down guidelines on sexual harassment, and in Rupal Deol Bajaj v Kanwar Pal Singh Gill, the court explained the meaning of modesty of women. Since more and more women have started going out to work, it has become an important issue to protect women to make them feel safe and secure.
The Parliament since then has passed the Protection of Woman against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill,2010 to protect the female workers, but it is not enough to curb eve-teasing. It is a step forward. Other than this, all-State governments and Union Territories issued guidelines to appoint female officers in plain clothes in the bus stops, railway and metro stations, theaters, malls, parks, beaches, etc., to monitor and avoid incidents of eve-teasing. They are also directed to install CCTV cameras in calculated positions as a warning in itself, and if any act of eve-teasing gets detected, the offender can be caught.
Persons who are in charge of public places like places of worship, theaters, bus stand, and private places like workplaces and educational institutes have to take steps as fit to prevent eve-teasing and assault within their limits and make a complaint about any and all incidents noticed to the nearest police stations or Women's Help Centre.
In case any act of eve-teasing happens on any public vehicle by passengers or person in charge of the vehicle, then a complaint should be filed by the aggrieved person, and the vehicle should be reported to the nearest police station, and failure to do will eliminate the complaint.
The State governments and Union territories were directed to establish effective women helpline bodies in various towns and cities to curb eve-teasing within 3 months.
Various Caution Boards warning about eve-teasing should be put up in public areas that are mostly crowded like railways stations and bus stands, and it is also the responsibility of the passers-by noticing such incidents to report it as a witness to save victims from such crimes. The State Government and Union Territories of India are taking adequate and effective measures by issuing suitable guidelines to the concerned authorities, including District Collectors and District Superintendents of Police, so as to take proper measures to curb such incidents.
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