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ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY
Rules and Procedures to be followed in cases of Sexual
Harassment
[Presented by President, Students Union in consonance with the
Guidelines laid down by
the Honble Supreme Court (Vishaka vs. State of Rajasthan &
Apparel Export PromotionCouncil vs A. K. Chopra)with the requested
for enactment]
1. SHORT TITLE AND COMMENCENT: These rules shall be called Rules
and Procedures
for Complaints against Sexual Harassment.
They shall come into force with effect from
......................................... .
2. DEFINITIONS: In these rules, unless the context otherwise
requires:
(a) SEXUAL HARASSMENT: Sexual harassment in the context of these
rules includes any
unwelcome sexually determined behaviour, explicit or implicit,
and includes physical
contact and advances, a demand or request for sexual favours,
sexually coloured remarks,showing pornography, and other unwelcome
physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a
sexual nature.
(b) EMPLOYEES: Employees include Vice Chancellor, Pro-Vice
Chancellor, Director
Academic Programmes, Teaching/Research and Non-teaching staff,
including Registrar,
Finance Officer, Controller of Examinations, Officers on Special
Duty, Consultants, etc.
(c) CAMPUS: Campus includes all places of instruction, research
and administration,
hostels, guesthouses, public places and employees residences
allotted on the campus of
Aligarh Muslim University (hereinafter as the University).
(d) COMPLAINTS COMMITTEE: Complaints Committee means the
Committee which
shall inquire into the allegation of sexual harassment and
facilitate the filing of such
complaints.The Complaints Committee shall be the Disciplinary
Enquiry Committee for
all cases of allegation of sexual harassment.
(e) EXECUTIVE COUNCIL: Executive Council means the Executive
Council of the
University.
(f) APPEAL: Appeal means any appeal to the Executive Council
against any decision of the
Complaints Committee.
(g) NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATION (NGO):NGO includes any
organisation
registered under the Societies Registration Act or a public
charitable trust recognised
under law not affiliated to any political party and engaged in
work for gender equality for
a minimum of three years prior to the date of empanelment, with
two-third registered
members not having been associated or are associated in any
capacity with the University.(h) OUTSIDER :Outsider includes any
person who is not a student, resident, an employee or
a service provider of the University.
(i) STUDENT:Student includes any person who is enrolled for a
full or part time course of
the University and includes notionally admitted students.
(j) COMPLAINT: Complaint includes an allegation of sexual
harassment in or outside
campus registered against an employee, student or outsider and
may be oral or in writing.
(k) FUNCTIONARY: Functionary shall include persons defined as
functionaries in the
Statutes and Ordinances of the University.
(l) VOLUNTEERS: Volunteers shall include all such persons
enlisted by the Complaints
Committee to help discharge its functions.
(k) SERVICE PROVIDER: Service provider includes any person who
works in, runs ormanages a commercial enterprise, or provides
services, such as shops, canteens, hostels,
restaurants, domestic help, on the campus.
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3. COMPOSITION OF THE COMPLAINTS COMMITTEE:
(a) Four senior most employees out of which three shall be
teachers and one from among
the non-teachers of which two shall be ladies and none shall be
an officer or functionary
of the University during the tenure of such membership.
Provided the Senior most lady teacher from amongst the above
shall Chair the meetingand the second senior most lady teacher
shall be the Convener of the Complaints
Committee.
(b) Three girl students one Research Scholar, one Post graduate
and one Under graduate
elected for an academic session or such time till she remains a
student whichever is
earlier from amongst themselves.
Provided these elections shall be held in the Halls of Residence
of the Girls to be
completed by the University within 60 days from the beginning of
academic session.
(c) One student to be nominated by the Students Union Executive,
one teacher to be
nominated by the Aligarh Muslim University Teachers Association
Executive and one
nominee by the Executive of various Associations of the
Non-teaching employees by
rotation for a period of one year from amongst themselves.(d)
One lady representative of an NGO to be nominated by the Executive
Council.
Provided no one shall be a member for more than two years from
the categories (a) and
(d).
4. DISQUALIFICATION:
Chairperson and any member of the Complaints Committee shall be
disqualified for
appointment, election or nomination or for being continued if
there is any complaint
concerning sexual harassment pending against her/him, or if
she/he has been found guilty
of sexual harassment/serious misconduct.
5. VACATION OF A MEMBER:
If a member elected or nominated to Complaints Committee remains
absent without
written intimation to it for three consecutive meetings she/he
would be deemed to have
vacated her/his membership.
6. RESIGNATION OF A MEMBER:
A member of the Complaints Committee may resign her/his office
at any time by
tendering her/his resignation in writing to its Chairperson.
Such a person shall be deemedto have vacated her/his office as soon
as Complaints Committee has accepted the
resignation.
7. PROCEDURE:
A. All procedures of the Complaints Committee shall be Right to
Information Act,
2005 complaint.
B. The Complaints Committee shall ensure that at no time during
the procedure the
complainant and the alleged offender(s) are face to face, e.g.
they shall not be called
at the same time and be made to wait in the same place.
C. The Complaints Committee shall ensure that at no time during
the procedure thepast sexual history of the complainant be probed
into, as such information shall be
deemed irrelevant to a complaint of sexual harassment.
D. The Complaints Committee shall immediately on receiving a
complaint issue a restraint order
to the alleged offender(s), with a copy endorsed to the
complainant, informing that a complaint of
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sexual harassment has been received against her/him and issue a
warning that any attempt on her/his
part or by person(s) acting on her/his behalf, to contact, or
influence, or intimidate, or exert pressure
on the complainant or any person in the complainants confidence
may prove prejudicial to her/his
case.
E. The identities of all witnesses shall throughout be protected
by the Enquiry Committee by the
use of a coding system.
(a)FILLING OF COMPLAINT:
(i) Any employee, student, resident or service provider may
lodge a complaint of sexual
harassment against an employee, student, resident, service
provider or outsider.
(ii) Complaints are to be addressed to the Chairperson of the
Complaints Committee and
can be lodged directly with Chairperson or any member of
Complaints Committee or
the Registrar, or volunteers who shall bring the same to the
notice of the Chairperson
within three working days of the receipt of the Complaint.
(iii) In case the complaint is oral it shall be reduced in
writing by the Complaints
Committee or any of its members and authenticated by the
complainant under her/hisdated signature or thumb impression as the
case may be.
(iv) The Complaints Committee or any of its members may take suo
moto cognisance of a
case of sexual harassment and present it in writing to the
Chairperson of the
Complaints Committee.
(b) DISPOSAL OF COMPLAINT:
(i) The Convener of the Complaints Committee shall as soon as
possible but not later than
seven days from the date of receipt of the complaint call a
meeting to screen the
complaint.
(ii) The Complaints Committee shall immediately issue a show
cause notice to the alleged
offender(s) with the requirement to present a statement of
defence within ten days after
considering which intimate the complainant and any other person
of a preliminary
hearing to be convened not later than five days from the date of
receipt of the
statement of defence but not later than fifteen days from the
above meeting to provide
an opportunity to be heard and to the complainant and the
alleged offender(s) who
shall be supplied with details of the complaint such as the
location, date, time and the
alleged incident along with a copy of these Rules and
Procedures.
(iii) On receiving the intimation the complainant and the
alleged offender(s) shall within
two working days submit to the Chairperson a list of witnesses,
together with their
contact details that she/he desires the Complaints Committee to
examine and maynominate an employee or a student of the University
to assist during the proceedings.
No person who has been found guilty of sexual harassment shall
be accepted as a
nominee.
(iv) After the preliminary hearing the Complaints Committee
shall fix a date, not later than
five days, separately for each for inspection of documents of
which the parties may
take notes.
(v) The alleged offender, the complainant, and witnesses shall
be intimated at least three
days in advance in writing of the date, time and venue of the
proceedings
(vi) The Convener shall convene the first regular hearing of the
enquiry not later than ten
days after the preliminary hearing.
(vii) The gaps between subsequent hearings shall not exceed 10
days.(viii) The complainant and the alleged offender shall have the
right of cross-
examination of all witnesses.
(ix) The complainant and the alleged offender shall be
responsible for presenting their
witnesses before the Complaints Committee. However, if the
Complaints Committee
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is convinced that the absence of either of the parties to the
disputes is on valid
grounds, the Complaints Committee shall adjourn that particular
meeting of the
Committee for a period not exceeding five days. The meeting so
adjourned shall be
conducted thereafter, even if the person concerned fails to
appear for the said
adjourned meeting without prior intimation/valid ground.
(x) All proceedings of the Complaints Committee shall be
recorded in writing and thesame together with the statement of
witnesses shall be authenticated by the persons
concerned.
(xi) If the complainant desires to tender any documents by way
of evidence, the
Complaints Committee shall supply certified copies of such
documents to the alleged
offender and vice a versa.
(xii) In the event that the Complaints Committee thinks that
supplementary testimony is
required, the Chairperson shall forward to the persons concerned
a summary of the
proceedings and allow for a time period of five days to submit
such testimony, in
person or in writing, to it.
(xiii) After concluding its investigation, the Complaints
Committee shall submit a
detailed reasoned report of its findings to the
authority/officer competent to takedisciplinary action against the
alleged offender.
(xiv) Nothing in these rules or procedures precludes the
Complaints Committee from
taking cognisance of any new fact or evidence which may arise
during the proceedings
or even after the communication of the findings and to bring it
to the notice of the
competent disciplinary authority/officer and proceed further in
the matter.
(xv) The entire procedure of disposal of the complaint shall not
exceed a period of ninety
days, if absolutely essential the need to go beyond this period
shall be decided by two-
third majority of the members present and voting and reasons and
period of extension
therefore shall be recorded in writing.
(c)MEETINGS OF THE COMPLAINTS COMMITTEE:
(i) The Complaints Committee shall meet at least four times a
semester or at such
intervals as may be necessary provided that the interval between
two successive
meetings shall not exceed 30 days.
(ii) Members shall be intimated in writing seven days before an
Ordinary Meeting
accompanied by the Agenda.
Provided in case of urgency a Special Meeting may be convened
for which notice shall
be five days.
Provided a member may requisition a meeting which shall be held
within three days of
the receipt of the request.(iii) The proceedings of meetings
shall be video recorded and the Minutes shall be
recorded and placed before the Executive Council at its next
meeting. The Minutes
shall specify the date of and person who received the complaint
and the date on which
the complaint was brought to its notice and clearly specify all
subsequent dates of
meetings, etc.
(iv) The quorum for a meeting shall be one-third of the existing
members of the
Complaints Committee.
(v) Motions shall be carried by a simple majority of those
present and voting.
8. POWERS OF THE COMPLAINTS COMMITTEE:
(a)The Complaints Committee may call any person to appear as a
witness if it is of the
opinion that it shall be in the interest of justice.
(b)The Complaints Committee shall have the power to summon any
official papers or
documents pertaining to the complainant as well as the alleged
offender(s).
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(c) The Complaints Committee may consider as relevant any
earlier complaints against the
alleged offender(s).
(d) The Complaints Committee shall have the right to summon, as
many times as required, the
alleged offender, complainant and/or any witnesses for the
purpose of supplementary testimony
and/or clarifications.
(e) The Complaints Committee shall have the right to terminate
and to decide the complaintex parte if the alleged offender(s)
fail, without valid ground, to present herself/himself for
three
consecutive hearings.
9. OTHER FUNCITIONS OF THE COMPLAINTS COMMITTEE:
(a) GENDER SENSITISATION AND ORIENTATION:
(i) The Complaints Committee shall ensure prominent publicity of
these Rules and
Procedures throughout the University, including the University
web site.
(ii) The Complaints Committee shall organize programmes for the
gender sensitisation of
the University community through workshops, seminars, posters,
film shows, debates,skits, etc. It may enlist the help of
specialized NGOs and any campus body to carry
out these programmes.
(iii) The Complaints Committee shall conduct at least one major
activity per semester
involving large sections of the University community.
(iv) The Chairperson of the Complaints Committee shall be
responsible for making the
complainant aware that counselling services can be made
available, if so desired.
(b) CRISIS MANAGEMENT AND MEDIATION:
(i) The Complaints Committee shall assist in the mediation of
situations arising out of incidents of
sexual harassment and sexual assault on the campus.
(ii) The Complaints Committee shall co-ordinate with the campus
security services to devise ways and
means by which a system of crisis management that is
gender-sensitive as well as prompt and
effective is put in place. It shall maintain regular contact
with the campus security services to ensure
that in crises arising out of incidents of sexual harassment the
members of the Complaints
Committee are contacted immediately.
(iii) The Complaints Committee at the beginning of each academic
session shall notify a list and activate
an adequately representative team of volunteers, who shall
assist in gender sensitisation and crisis
management and may receive complaints of sexual harassment.
(iv) The Complaints Committee at the beginning of each academic
session shall ensure widespread
publicity of the contact details (both official and personal) of
all its members and volunteers.(v) The Complaints Committee shall
organise training workshops for members and volunteers to equip
them to handle sexual harassment cases, including legal and
medical aspects.
(vi) In cases the sexually motivated conduct with an employee,
student, resident, service provider or
outsider and in case of a specific offence under the Indian
Penal Code or any other Indian law, the
Complaints Committee shall assist the affected party in making a
complaint to the appropriate
authority outside the University.
10. VIOLATION OF RESTRAINT ORDER:
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(a) The complainant or any other person should intimate in
writing to the Chairperson of the
Complaints Committee of any violation of the order of restraint
by the alleged
offender(s), or any person(s) acting on her/his behalf.
(b) In case the Complaints Committee is convinced of the truth
of such allegation, the
Chairperson may summon the alleged offender(s) in person and
issue a verbal and written
warning that such behaviour may lead to an adverse inference
being drawn againsther/him.
(c) In case of complaint of violation of restraint order the
Complaints Committee shall retain
the right to close the enquiry proceedings and to give an ex
parte decision on the
complaint.
(d) The Complaints Committee shall consider all violations of
the restraint order when
determining the nature of offence of an alleged offender(s).
11. SUB-COMMITTEES:
The Complaints Committee may form as many sub-committees from
amongst its members in
the interest of its smooth functioning and may assign it
functions.
12. SUBMISSION OF REPORT:
(a)The Complaints Committee shall submit the report within
fifteen days after closing the
enquiry.
(b)The appropriate disciplinary authority/officer shall take
decision on the report of the
Complaints Committee within sixty days.
13. MISCELLENOUS:
(a)The proceedings under these Rules and Procedures shall not,
in any way, be affected by any
other proceedings against the alleged offender(s) preferred by
the complainant under any
other provision of civil or criminal law, except to the extent
specifically ordered by a court of
law.
(b)The provisions of these Rules and Procedures shall not
restrict the powers of the University
or the complainant to proceed against the alleged offender for
any other misconduct, or
pursue criminal or civil remedies, whether or not connected with
the misconduct within the
purview of these rules.
(c) In case of an allegation of sexual harassment against an
outsider the Complaints Committee
shall take all steps to ensure that an FIR is filed by the
Proctors Office in the incident.
(d) All infrastructure, including office, and clerical and
secretarial assistance shall be provided bythe Office of the
Registrar.
(e) An appeal against the report of the Complaints Committee
shall lie before the Executive
Council.
