P&H High Court Issues Notice To Adidas India & 2 Officials In Perjury Complaint Filed By Women Alleging Sexual Harassment At Workplace

The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently issued notice to Adidas India Marketing Pvt Ltd and two of its legal officials in a complaint filed by an ex-employee alleging that they had produced forged documents in the court proceedings relating to sexual harassment at workplace.

A division bench comprising Justice Augustine George Masih and Justice Vikram Aggarwal issued notice on an application filed under Section 340 of the Code of Criminal Procedure by a woman, who was working as an in-house counsel of Adidas India. She alleged that she was sexually harassed at work place by her senior colleague. She further alleged that another senior officer, acting in connivance with her harasser, did not forward her complaint to the Internal Complaints Committee and a counter-complaint was raised against her. She alleged that she was forced to resign from the company and she was constrained to raise a complaint before the Local Committee, Gurugram in 2019.

Challenging the notice issued by the Local Committee, Adidas and its officials approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking to quash the proceedings. In the writ petitions, certain documents were produced to state that the accused were given clean chit in an internal enquiry as well as police investigation.

However, the woman disputed the credibility of those documents and contended that the same were forged and fabricated. She also filed a perjury application before the single bench.

On March 22, 2021, a single bench of Justice Anil Kshetrapal allowed the writ petitions and quashed the notices issued by the Local Committee citing the reason that the complaint was not lodged within the period of limitation prescribed under the POSH Act 2013. The single bench did not entertain the perjury application as well.

Challenging the refusal of the single bench to take up the perjury application, the woman filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court. She also filed a Letters Patent Appeal before the division bench of the High Court against the single bench judgment allowing the writ petitions filed by the company and its officials.

On August 18, 2022,  the Supreme Court allowed the woman to file a fresh perjury application before the division bench of the High Court, which is considering her appeal. The Supreme Court also stated that it will be open to the division bench to consider such application in accordance with law.

Pursuant to the liberty granted by the High Court, she filed a fresh application under Section 340 CrPC before the division bench. The division bench considering the appeal issued notice to the respondents on the perjury complaint. The matter is posted to January 30, 2023 along wit the appeal.