india

Updated: Jul 23, 2019 01:50 IST

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a petition demanding application of Vishakha guidelines on sexual harassment at workplaces to places of worship.

Dismissing the petition, a bench led by the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said,” the guidelines are meant for cases of sexual harassment at work places and cannot be extended to places of religious worship”.

The petition filed by one advocate Maneesh Pathak had sought that Vishakha guidelines against sexual harassment at workplace should be made applicable to ashrams, madrasas and Catholic institutions.

Arguing the matter before the court senior advocate RK Khanna tried to impress on the court the necessity of enforcing the Vishakha guidelines in places of worship because in the past these places had seen a spurt of sexual harassment cases. But the court was unmoved by the argument said, “if such incidents are taking place the aggrieved parties have recourse to filing FIRs.”

The apex court had in, 1997, in the Vishakha case, laid down guidelines to be followed by employers to prevent or deter acts of sexual harassments against women at workplace.

The petition also mentioned incidents of sexual exploitation in religious institutions such as the issue of the Kerala priest, and other gurus like Daati Maharaj, Baba Ram Rahim and Aasaram Bapu.