Delhi High Court questioned the Centre over the disclosure of a sexual harassment survivor’s identity in a POSH handbook.
The court said revealing the survivor’s name was prohibited by law and sought details of officials responsible for the content.
The matter will be heard again on Wednesday, with the petitioner also seeking removal and de-indexing of the content.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday pulled up the Centre for disclosing the identity of a workplace sexual harassment survivor in a POSH handbook published by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said the law bars disclosure of a sexual offence survivor's identity and makes such disclosure punishable, as per PTI.
"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 revealing the name of the victim and you are circulating it. It is on your official website," Justice Sharma said in court.
The judge listed the matter for Wednesday and asked the central government lawyer to return with the names of officials "responsible for this content".
Handbook Disclosure Details
The court was hearing a petition by the alleged perpetrator. He sought removal of his name from the handbook after telling the court that the matter had since been settled.
The petitioner's counsel said a labour tribunal order arising from the alleged incident was included in the ministry's POSH handbook as an anecdote. The lawyer said the handbook disclosed not only the petitioner's identity but also the woman's name.
The handbook is "everywhere and anywhere" on the internet, the petitioner's counsel said. The Centre's counsel said the handbook was published in November 2015 for educational purposes and that the parties settled the matter only recently.
Court On Identity Protection
The judge rejected that defence. "So will it reveal the name of the victim? Even a judgement cannot," Justice Sharma said.
She then underlined that educational use did not justify naming the survivor. "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 directions protecting a survivor's identity existed even before 2015. It told the Centre that authorities could not escape responsibility merely because a party approached the court only 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.
Google De-indexing Request
The petitioner also sought directions to Google for de-linking and de-indexing the content.
The petitioner's counsel said the alleged incident took place in 2001. The lawyer also said the petitioner had filed a defamation case in Delhi against the woman over the allegations.
