Apex court mandates anti-harassment policies in schools

The Supreme Court has stressed the need for every educational institution to adopt a clear internal harassment policy, establish effective reporting and inquiry mechanisms, and enforce strict disciplinary action against offenders, while restoring the punishment of a male teacher found guilty of harassing a female colleague.

In a 12-page judgment authored by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, the SC overturned a Punjab Service Tribunal decision that had reduced the teacher's punishment.

The court held that institutions must not wait for decisions from the Federal Ombudsperson or Provincial Ombudsman before taking departmental action in harassment cases.

The judgment noted that in order to ensure a foolproof and healthy environment at the workplace, even in all the institutions where both male and female teachers are inducted and perform their duties, there must be an internal clear-headed harassment policy with a proper reporting system to the high-ups, including the head of the educational institution, so that a fair investigation may be conducted against the delinquent.

"If the allegation is proved after due process of law, then disciplinary action may be taken against any such person who was found indulging in such nefarious and immoral activities, which should be done independently at departmental level and must not always be based or found awaiting the outcome of the decision if any rendered by the Federal Ombudsperson or Provincial Ombudsman for protection against harassment of women at the workplace."

A division bench headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar observed that the head of every educational institution bears a heavy responsibility to ensure a workplace where sexual harassment is unequivocally unacceptable, and professionalism remains the governing standard.

The court directed that copies of the judgment be sent to the federal secretary for education, the chief secretaries, the provincial secretaries of school and higher education, the Federal Ombudsperson, and all provincial ombudspersons to strengthen measures to eliminate sexual harassment in government and private educational institutions.

It stressed strict enforcement of the Code of Conduct for Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace, framed under Sections 2(c) and 11 of the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010.

"Furthermore, directions ought to have been issued by an Office Order/Circular by the Ministry of Education (Federal and Provincial) to all the persons in command of government and private educational institutions for displaying the copy of Code of Conduct for Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace in English and other vernacular languages at conspicuous places and also issue directions to constitute an in-house "Inquiry Committee" as mandated in the law in every government and private educational institution to deal with the cases."