BANGALORE: In a landmark ruling, the Karnataka High Court ruled that the termination of a person's employment did not constitute sexual harassment. The court dismissed the complaint and mandated an investigation into the pending legal matter.

"Simply the officer, in-charge of the post office removed the employee from the service, that itself can't be a ground for filing a complaint and dragging them to court on the allegation of sexual assault on the victim," the order from the bench led by Justice K. Natarajan was recently issued (November 4). On May 16, 2018, the complainant woman, a temporary Group-D employee, filed a complaint with Bengaluru's Basavanagudi police station citing sexual harassment.

The complaint was lodged against postmasters Radhakrishna and Hanumantaiah. She noted in her complaint that her mother was a contract worker at the post office.

The complainant went to the post office after being ill. After ten years of working for Radhakrishna, Hanumantaiah took over as postmaster. Hanumantaiah was accused of demeaning her and threatening to fire her in the complaint.

The complaint holder insisted that "She made an attempt at suicide because she couldn't stand the suffering. Later, Hanumantaiah stated his desire for sex, but it was denied. I was driven to a park by Radhakrishna, who tried to sexually assault me there, but I was saved by bystanders." Both accused postmasters were the subject of a police report. The 37th ACMM court is now in the inquiry phase of the case. The High Court had received a plea from the accused asking for the dismissal of the case.

The complainant was taken to a park by the accused Radhakrishna, who allegedly made an attempt at sexual harassment there, according to the court. The complainant and accused may have visited the park, but the police have not made an effort to determine whether the park is real. Are there any CCTV recordings? The prosecution has not provided any evidence to support the charges, the court said, and the case has been dismissed as a result.

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