Bar body moves Supreme Court demanding probe into proof of periods asked from female workers
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has filed a plea in the apex court over allegations that female sanitation workers at the Maharashi Dayanand University, Haryana, were asked to prove through pictures of their private parts that they were menstruating.
The plea has sought directions to the Centre and Haryana to conduct a detailed inquiry into the alleged incident.
The Bar body has also sought guidelines to ensure that the right to health, dignity, bodily autonomy and privacy of women and girls are not violated when they are menstruating.
Three people connected with Maharishi Dayanand University (MDU) here were booked for sexual harassment on October 31 for allegedly asking female sanitation workers to prove through pictures of their private parts that they were having their periods, police said.
The varsity, in a statement, said it had suspended two supervisors, who had been hired through Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam Limited on contract, while an internal probe had been ordered into the incident.
The alleged incident took place on October 26, a few hours before Haryana Governor Ashim Kumar Ghosh was scheduled to visit the campus.
Three female sanitation workers, in a complaint to varsity authorities, alleged that the two supervisors first forced them to clean the complex despite being told they were "unwell" and then asked them to prove they were menstruating.
"We told them we could not work faster as we were unwell due to our periods, but they demanded we click photos of our private parts to prove it. When we refused, we were abused and threatened with dismissal," one of the sanitation workers, who claimed to be employed with MDU for 11 years, alleged.
The women alleged that the supervisors told them they were following Assistant Registrar Shyam Sunder's orders.
Sunder has denied giving any such instruction to the supervisors.
The PGIMS police station SHO said an FIR was registered under charges of criminal intimidation, sexual harassment, intent to insult the modesty of a woman and assault or use of criminal force on a woman.
The accused may also be booked under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, he said.
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Opposition raking up Dalit CM issue to divert attention: Karnataka Minister
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Monday accused the opposition of "unnecessarily stoking" the debate over a Dalit Chief Minister to deflect attention from governance.
He asserted that only the Congress has the commitment to elevate a Dalit leader to the top post.
Speaking to reporters here, Parameshwara said the ongoing discussion on a Dalit Chief Minister was being amplified by opposition parties.
“This is the work of the opposition. To hide their own failures, they are raising the issue of the Chief Minister. Isn’t the administration running smoothly? Isn’t the Chief Minister governing?” he asked.
The Minister noted that for the past 10–12 days, detailed budget discussions had been held across departments and governance was progressing normally.
Parameshwara, who is a Dalit, said the Congress alone had the history and political will to make a Dalit Chief Minister.
“Yes, it must be the Congress party. Who else will do it?” he said, while clarifying that the timing of any such decision would be determined by the party high command.
On Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s media statement targeting the JD(S) and invoking social justice, Parameshwara said Siddaramaiah had earlier been part of the JD(S) and even served as its president before being expelled.
He noted that the internal history of that party was best known to those within it and declined to comment on specific internal matters.
Defending the Chief Minister’s ideological position, Parameshwara said Siddaramaiah’s politics had always been rooted in social justice and that there was nothing new or opportunistic about his stance.
The Chief Minister, he said, had consistently built his political career on that foundation.
