RAW report on sexual harassment charges are no threat to national integrity, Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held that a report pertaining to allegations of sexual harassment by RAW officers would not be protected under Sections 123 and 124 of the Indian Evidence Act and the same should be furnished to the appellant..The case pertains to allegations of sexual harassment made by former RAW employee Nisha Priya Bhatia (appellant) against her senior Sunil Uke, Joint Secretary in the department and Ashok Chaturvedi. The allegation of sexual harassment by Sunil Uke was looked into by a Committee and a report was submitted on May 19, 2008. A separate enquiry was held by a separate Committee into the allegation of sexual harassment by Ashok Chaturvedi. This Committee gave its Report on January 23, 2009..Proceedings were pending in the Delhi High Court pertaining to sexual harassment allegations when controversy arose in respect of the right of the appellant to have a copy of the committee reports..The Central government opposed furnishing the reports claiming exception under Section 123 and 124 of the Indian Evidence Act. This was on the ground that disclosure of the contents of the Report would be against national interest and would compromise national security since the officers belong to the “highly sensitive organization which is entrusted with the delicate job of collecting and analyzing intelligence inputs necessary to maintain the unity, integrity and sovereignty of the country”. They submitted both the reports in sealed cover to the Court..The Court after perusing the reports refused to accept the submission made by the Central government and held the following:.“We have gone through both the Reports and the accompanying documents and find absolutely nothing therein which could suggest that there is any threat to the integrity of the country or anything contained therein would be detrimental to the interests of the country…… We find it very odd that in a matter of an enquiry in respect of an allegation of sexual harassment, the Union of India should claim privilege under Sections 123 and 124 of the Evidence Act. The contents of Reports alleging sexual harassment can hardly relate to affairs of State or anything concerning national security. In any event, absolutely nothing has been shown to us to warrant withholding the Reports and the documents from the appellant in relation to the enquiry of allegations of sexual harassment made by the appellant against Sunil Uke and Ashok Chaturvedi.”.It therefore, held that the appellant is entitled to the reports in respect of the allegations of sexual harassment made by her..Read the judgment below.