Maharashtra & Goa (finally) get sexual harassment rules for district and High Court

Two years after the Supreme Court’s order in Binu Tamta, courts in Maharashtra and Goa now have regulations for preventing sexual harassment within court precincts.

On August 27 this year, the then Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, Mohit Shah, notified the Gender Sensitisation and Sexual Harassment of Women at the District Courts in the State of Maharashtra and Goa (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Regulations 2014.

Along with the rules for a district courts, a similar set of regulations have been framed for the Bombay High Court.

The separate regulations for the High Court and the district courts is a slight deviation from similar regulations framed by other High Courts; the regulations framed by the Himachal High Court for instance, cover instances  that take place within the precincts of the High Court as well as the subordinate courts.

The Gujarat High Court’s regulations, passed in February last year, also cover the High Court as well as the district courts.In fact, the Bombay High Court seems to be an exception to the rule. And rather delayed as well.

One of the earliest adopters, the High Court of Tripura, passed the same regulations in December of 2013 barely six months after the Supreme Court’s directions in Binu Tamta.