Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma emphasised that the Centre is also bound to follow the law, which prohibits revealing the identity of a survivor of a sexual offence and makes such disclosure a punishable offence.
"How is the name of the victim disclosed in this? How can you do that? You are the government of India. You yourself are publishing (handbooks) revealing the name of the victim and you are circulating it. It is on your official website," Justice Sharma said.
The court listed the matter for further hearing on Wednesday and asked the central government lawyer to return with the names of officials "responsible for this content".
The court was hearing a petition filed by the alleged perpetrator, who submitted that the matter had since been settled and sought directions for the removal of his name from the handbook.
The petitioner's counsel submitted that an order by a labour tribunal arising from the alleged incident had been included in the ministry's POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) handbook as an anecdote, revealing details of not only his identity but also the woman's name.
The handbook is "everywhere and anywhere" on the internet, the lawyer added.
The Centre's counsel submitted that the handbook was published in November 2015 for educational purposes and that the parties had settled the matter only recently.
"So will it reveal the name of the victim? Even a judgement cannot," Justice Sharma responded, asserting that the woman's identity cannot be revealed despite the settlement.
"For educational purpose you don't need the victim's name, right? Even the judges write 'X'. There is a Supreme court judgement. There are directions of the high court. You can't disclose the name. Now it is punishable," Justice Sharma said.
The court also said judicial directions to protect a survivor's identity were in place even before 2015 and that the authorities cannot be absolved of their responsibility to follow the law even if a party was acting on it now.
"Even if they are late in coming to the court, that will not absolve you of your responsibility of following the law. That's for everybody, even the government, right?" the court told the Centre's lawyer.
The petitioner also sought directions to Google for de-linking and de-indexing the content.
The petitioner's counsel stated that the alleged incident took place in 2001 and that he had also filed a defamation case in Delhi against the woman over the allegations.
The Delhi High Court's observations place the focus on the legal responsibility of authorities to protect the identity of sexual harassment survivors, including when official material is published for educational purposes and circulated online.
About The Author
Comment List