Commenting on woman's body structure amounts to sexual harassment: Kerala HC
Kochi (PTI): The Kerala High Court has held that a comment on a woman's "body structure" is a sexually coloured remark which would constitute penal offence of sexual harassment.
The ruling by Justice A Badharudeen came while dismissing a former Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) employee's plea to quash the sexual harassment case against him filed by a woman staffer of the same organisation.
The woman had alleged that the accused used vulgar language against her from 2013 onwards and then in 2016-17 began sending objectionable messages and voice calls.
Despite complaints against him to the KSEB and the police, he continued sending her objectionable messages, she had claimed.
Following her complaints, the accused was booked for the offences under sections 354A (sexual harassment) and 509 (insulting modesty of a woman) of the IPC and section 120(o) (causing nuisance through any means of communication by undesirable call, letter, writing, message) of the Kerala Police Act.
Seeking to quash the case, the accused claimed that mere reference that a person has a nice body structure could not be attributed to sexually coloured remarks within the ambit of section 354A and 509 of the IPC and section 120(o) of the Kerala Police Act.
The prosecution and the woman, on the other hand, contended that the calls and messages of the accused carried sexually coloured remarks intended to harass her and outrage her modesty.
Agreeing with the prosecution's contentions, the Kerala High Court court said that prima facie, the ingredients to attract the offences under sections 354A and 509 of IPC and section 120 (o) of the Kerala Police Act "are made out".
"Having noticed the facts of the case, it is discernible that the prosecution case is specifically made out, prima facie, to attract the offences alleged to be committed. In the result, this Criminal Miscellaneous Case stands dismissed. Interim order, already granted, shall stand vacated," the court said in its January 6 order.
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Modified scheme to provide cashless treatment for road accident victims nationwide: Nitin Gadkari
New Delhi, Jan 8: The government will come up with a modified scheme by March to provide cashless treatment for road accident victims nationwide, under which they will be entitled to a maximum amount of Rs 1.5 lakh per accident per person, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday.
According to Gadkari, the scheme will be applicable to all road accidents caused by the use of motor vehicles on any category of road.
The National Health Authority (NHA) shall be the implementing agency for the programme, in coordination with police, hospitals and State Health Agency etc.
The programme will be implemented through an IT platform, combining the functionalities of the e-Detailed Accident Report (eDAR) application of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the Transaction Management System of NHA.
"The broad contours of the pilot programme are -- victims entitled to cashless treatment up to a maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh per accident per person for a maximum period of 7 days from date of the accident," Gadkari said while addressing a press conference.
The government will come up with a modified scheme by March this year.
On March 14, 2024, the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) had launched a pilot programme to provide cashless treatment to road accident victims.
The pilot programme -- initiated in Chandigarh -- was aimed at establishing an ecosystem for providing timely medical care to the victims of road accidents, including during the golden hour.
The pilot project was later expanded to six states.
The road transport and highways minister also said the government is studying labour laws to frame a policy for fixing working hours for commercial drivers, on the lines of pilots, as driver fatigue is resulting in fatal road crashes, Gadkari said, adding that India is facing a shortage of 22 lakh drivers.
MoRTH organised a two-day workshop on January 6, and 7, 2025 to holistically deliberate issues, solutions and next steps to be taken to help drive transformation in India's road transport sector.
During the two-day workshop, accelerating implementation of Vehicle Scrapping Policy, pan-India adoption of PUCC 2.0, timelines for introduction of BS-VII norms were discussed, along with expected reduction in pollution with the norms.
Gadkari also launched the scheme for pan-India setup of Driver Training Institutes (DTI) which provides incentives for setting up DTIs and additional incentives for integrated infrastructure of ATSs and DTIs.
The minister stressed on the introduction of specific regulations and guidelines for improving E-Rickshaw safety, given the proliferation of e-rickshaws across the country.
Gadkari said deliberations were done for introduction of Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) for trucks and strict enforcement of retro reflective tape for transport vehicle safety.
Implementation of monitoring centers & vehicle location tracking devices (VLTD) for safety of women and children were also discussed.
The meeting also discussed the launch and integration of all faceless services by the end of March 2025.
"Further, a Committee of Secretaries with representatives from States, MoRTH and NIC will work towards standardization of faceless services modules, document standardization for registration," he added.
