Defective sexual harassment enquiry cannot sustain disciplinary charges, but independent allegations may still proceed separately.

Where a workplace sexual harassment enquiry under the 2013 Act is used as the foundation for disciplinary action, the statutory procedure must be followed, including hearing both parties and supplying the findings for representation. Findings recorded without that hearing cannot validly sustain charges derived from the report, so the consequential disciplinary charges based on the defective enquiry are liable to be quashed. Independent allegations in the same charge-sheet are separable and may continue in departmental proceedings. The authority may also conduct a fresh sexual harassment enquiry in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether the findings of the Internal Complaints Committee, recorded without affording hearing under the sexual harassment law, could form the basis of the charge-sheet and disciplinary proceedings, and whether the charges founded on such findings were liable to be quashed while the remaining charges could continue.

Analysis: The complaint enquiry under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 was treated as the foundation of the disciplinary action. Section 11(1) requires that where both parties are employees, they be heard during the enquiry and be supplied the findings to enable representation. Section 13(3) permits the Committee to recommend action in accordance with the service rules, but only after adherence to the statutory procedure. As the report was the root cause of the charge-sheet and the statutory procedure was not followed, the consequential charges based on that report could not stand. At the same time, the other allegations in the charge-sheet were independent and did not warrant interference.

Conclusion: The charges founded on the Committee's report were quashed and separated from the remaining charges. The authority was permitted to initiate a fresh enquiry on the sexual harassment in accordance with law, while the departmental enquiry on the other charges was allowed to proceed.

Final Conclusion: The challenge succeeded only to the extent of invalidating the disciplinary charges derived from the defective sexual harassment enquiry, with the balance of the disciplinary proceedings left undisturbed.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statutory enquiry into workplace sexual harassment is conducted without the hearing mandated by the governing Act, the resulting findings cannot validly sustain disciplinary charges, though independent charges in the same charge-sheet may proceed separately.

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