On receipt of a sexual harassment complaint from an advocate against a senior law officer in the Madras High Court, Tamil Nadu’s Advocate General R. Shunmugasundaram has constituted an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) in his office to inquire into such complaints.
According to the proceedings issued by the A-G, the ICC would be headed by designated senior counsel R. Vaigai and comprise four members, of whom three would be women. T. Dharaneeswaran, Deputy Director in the office of the A-G, would serve as Member Secretary.
Making it clear that the ICC had been constituted in accordance with the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, the proceedings stated that the committee would deal with all sexual harassment complaints.
With regard to the specific complaint received by him, the A-G said that the victim could send her complaint to the Member Secretary who, in turn, should place it forthwith before the ICC for further action. A copy of his proceedings had been marked to all law officers in the High Court.