Authored By: Kirti Sanjay Patil
KLE Society’s KLE Law College Of Navi Mumbai
Case Name: Vishaka & Ors v. State of Rajasthan & Ors (1997)
Citation: (1997) 6 SCC 241
Court: Supreme Court Of India
Bench: Chief Justice J.S. Verma, Justice Sujata V. Manohar And Justice B.N. Kirpal.
Date of Judgement: 13th August, 1997
Provisions:
The case raised critical questions about the absence of legislation to address sexual harassment at the workplace and the violation of fundamental rights under:
- Article 14: Right to equality
- Article 15: Prohibition of discrimination
- Article 19(1)(g): Right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business
- Article 21: Right to life and personal liberty
Facts of Case
In 1992, Bhanwari Devi, a social worker from Rajasthan, was gang-raped by five men from the Gujjar community. She had been working under the Women’s Development Project to prevent child marriages and had intervened to stop a child marriage in a Gujjar family. Her efforts led to retaliation in the form of sexual violence. The lack of legal mechanisms to address sexual harassment at the workplace prompted women’s rights groups to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court.
Issues
- If formal guidelines were required to deal with incidents involving sexual harassment at the workplace?
- Whether sexual harassment at the workplace amounts to the violation of the fundamental rights of a woman?
- If the employer has any responsibility in cases of sexual harassment by its employee or to its employees at a workplace?
Party | Arguments |
Petitioners | Workplace harassment violates multiple constitutional rights; no existing legal protections, so Court must fill the gap; international conventions (CEDAW) should guide. |
Respondents | Agreed with the need for guidelines and helped shape them—no real opposition to petitioners’ aims. |
Judgment
On August 13, 1997, the Supreme Court delivered a unanimous verdict, recognizing sexual harassment at the workplace as a violation of women’s fundamental rights. In the absence of specific legislation, the Court laid down the Vishaka Guidelines, drawing from international conventions like the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). These guidelines were to be treated as law until suitable legislation was enacted
Vishaka Guidelines
The Vishaka Guidelines mandated:
- Prohibition of sexual harassment at the workplace
- Establishment of a complaints mechanism
- Creation of a complaints committee with a majority of women members and involvement of a third party (NGO or other body)
- Awareness and sensitization programs for employees
- Disciplinary action against the offender
Ratio Decidendi of Vishaka & Others v. State of Rajasthan
The Supreme Court affirmed that the right to practice any profession (Article 19(1)(g)) and the right to life with dignity (Article 21) are interconnected—such rights are meaningful only in the presence of a safe and dignified workplace. The absence of safety at work infringes upon these fundamental rights. Sexual harassment at the workplace was recognized as a violation of Articles 14 (equality), 15 (non-discrimination), 19(1)(g) (freedom to work), and 21 (dignity and life) of the Constitution. By creating a hostile or unsafe work environment, such conduct impairs women’s constitutional rights.
Final Decision
In the absence of any statutory framework addressing sexual harassment at the workplace, the Supreme Court introduced the Vishaka Guidelines. These were declared binding under Article 141 of the Constitution and were to be treated as law until comprehensive legislation was enacted.
