The Bombay High Court has overturned an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) report and a subsequent Industrial Court ruling that had found a male bank employee guilty of workplace sexual harassment.

Justice Sandeep Marne deemed the allegations vague and unsubstantiated, stating they did not meet the criteria defined under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) Act.

Case’s Primary Allegations

During a meeting, the employee commented on a female colleague’s long hair, jokingly asking if she needed a JCB to tie it and singing a line from the song “Yeh Reshmi Zulfein.” The court noted that the complainant did not initially perceive this as sexual harassment.

Remark to Male Colleague In a separate incident, the employee made a comment about a male colleague’s private part in the presence of female colleagues. The male colleague did not take offense, and the court found no grounds for sexual harassment in this context.

Unrelated Allegation a third allegation involved the complainant’s reporting manager, not the petitioner, and was dismissed by the court as irrelevant to the case.

Justice Marne concluded that even if these allegations were accepted as true, they did not constitute sexual harassment under the POSH Act. Consequently, the ICC’s findings were dismissed due to a lack of proper analysis.

This ruling underscores the importance of clear and substantiated evidence when addressing workplace misconduct allegations.