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Malicious Complaints vs. Unsubstantiated Claims—Section 14 Safeguards

    A persistent point of concern for leadership teams and IC members alike is the potential misuse of the POSH framework. Section 14 of the POSH Act addresses this by detailing provisions for false or malicious complaints, as well as forged evidence. However, applying Section 14 requires a sharp, uncompromising distinction between a malicious complaint and an unsubstantiated complaint. An unsubstantiated complaint occurs when the IC completes its inquiry and concludes that the evidence provided does not cross the threshold of probability required to prove the allegation. Inability to prove a claim does not automatically mean the claim was false. Memory gaps, lack of third-party corroboration, or evidentiary ambiguities often result in an unsubstantiated finding without any dishonest intent by the complainant. A malicious complaint , on the other hand, requires affirmative proof of bad faith and conscious deception. To recommend action under Section 14, the IC must establish ...
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Posh in Higher Education Institutions in India

On July 25, 2022, an Odisha college student accused the school's physics instructor of rape and sexual harassment. The accused lecturer, who was the institution's reader, had also held the role of NCC officer in the Naval wing. Despite the female student coming to the institute with a formal complaint, the school's internal committee did not discover any proof of the claims she claimed. The probe didn't start until the Higher Education Department became aware of the situation.

A Presidency University student from Kolkata filed a formal complaint with the internal committee of the university accusing Mahitosh Mandal, the former head of the department, of sexual harassment on July 17, 2022.

It is believed that the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, is essential for protecting female employees from sexual harassment at the workplace. It is significant to highlight that educational institutions play a significant role in this while also including formal and informal workspaces and that the law is not confined to the corporate environment in the formal sphere.

A federal law that forbids sexual harassment of female employees and students in higher education institutions is the UGC (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redress of Sexual Harassment of Women Workers and Students in Higher Education Institutions) Regulation, 2015.

In an effort to make changes, the UGC (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redress of Sexual Harassment of Women Workers and Students in Higher Education Institutions) Regulation, 2015 requires all universities, colleges, and deemed universities to adhere to a set of rules to ensure that the campuses are free from sexual harassment.

In order to prevent gender bias, the term "students" assures that the legislation covers every person registered in a specific higher education institution, regardless of their gender.

An internal complaints committee must be established at every higher education institution in order to address sexual harassment claims. It must be dubbed the ICC and adhere to UGC-mandated rules if a body already exists with this goal.

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