NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday declined the urgent hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking registration of First Information Reports (FIRs) based on allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment in the ongoing MeToo movement that has gripped the country over the last three weeks.
The case will come up for hearing in regular course, a two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice S K Kaul told lawyer M L Sharma who had filed the petition.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice S K Kaul told lawyer M L Sharma, who had filed the petition, that it will come up for hearing in the regular course.
The petition is also seeking a direction to the National Commission for Women (NCW) to give security and assistance to women who have come out in the open with their allegations.
The NCW has urged the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to direct print, publication and production houses to form an internal committee to probe complaints of sexual harassment at the workplace under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Act, 2013.
The #MeToo movement in India began with actor Tanushree Dutta accusing veteran actor Nana Patekar of harassing her during the shooting of a film in 2008.
In the last three weeks, several women from a diverse range of fields took to social media to speak up about harassment at workplace, starting a #metoo storm in India.
Journalist-turned-politician MJ Akbar had to resign as the minister of state for external affairs on Wednesday following a spate of complaints by her former woman colleagues that he allegedly harassed them during his tenure as editor of various media publications.
With agency inputs
