The Bombay High Court (HC) recently framed the guidelines for conducting and covering proceedings of sexual harassment of women at the workplace as the same were not present. As per reports, these will ensure that the identities of the parties are not disclosed during hearings and the same will apply to the court, parties, and the media.
The single-judge bench of Justice Gautam Patel passed the order while hearing the suit which was filed under POSH Act. As per the order, the media has been barred from sharing any reports of the judgments passed under the Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act), and permission would be needed from the court to do the same. Moreover, these orders will not be shared on the official website of the high court. Violation of these laws will be a contempt of court.
The Wire quoted the court order which read, “Both sides and all parties and advocates, as also witnesses, are forbidden from disclosing the contents of any order, judgment or filing to the media or publishing any such material in any mode or fashion by any means, including social media, without specific leave of the court.”
The suit was filed by advocate Abha Singh, on behalf of the plaintiff which mentioned that the protection of identities was imperative as per the POSH Act and the POSH Rules.
Following the same, the order clarified that the parties can be referred only with terms like Plaintiff, Defendant and not by names or any other related references. Moreover, mentioning personal details of the parties and witnesses will not be allowed as well. Besides this, the judgements will have to pass in private and in chambers and/or on-camera.
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