New Delhi, Jul 3 (PTI) Supreme Court’s Justice N Kotiswar Singh on Thursday allayed the criticism that judiciary encroached upon the legislative domain and said if the government couldn’t provide a basic framework, there was no harm if courts laid down the ground. “Of course, criticism also that the judiciary is encroaching upon the legislative field of the legislature. But as mentioned or clarified again and again that, yes, if you are unable to provide a basic framework, there is no harm for the court to lay down the ground and it has become part of our jurisprudence. The courts continue to do it by issuing directions from time to time,” he said. Also Read | Fuel Ban Order on Overage Vehicles Not Feasible Now Due to Tech Challenges, Put on Hold: Delhi Government Writes to CAQM. The judge was speaking at the Delhi High Court’s launch of “Complaints of sexual harassment by women at workplace” digital portal. In his view, the workplace should be a place of opportunity and accomplishments and creativity and not a place generating fear and anxiety. He illustrated it with the reservation of women in Delhi Bar Council aside from other metros and said it was not an enactment by anybody but courts calling the exercise progressive and constructive. Also Read | Delhi: Moisturiser Bottle Gets Stuck in Woman鈥檚 Private Parts After She Inserts It for Sexual Pleasure, Doctors Successfully Remove Object Without Surgery. Justice Singh said there was nothing more grievous than sexual harassment for women. “It demeans women, acts as a barrier to her creativity, slows down the efficacy, causing immense mental and physical trauma, which is completely antithetical to the enabling principles of equality, liberty and justice, which form the core values of our Constitution. Therefore, this menace has to be tackled head on. And it is from this perspective that lies the importance and significance of this Act,” he added. Workplaces, the judge said, must provide respect for the dignity of the individuals and an equal opportunity for all. Any such act which negates the conducive atmosphere for workers has to be forbidden and not tolerated. He said a large number of women participated in nation building, contributing meaningfully in all walks of life, not confined to traditionally considered suitable only for women and which were exclusive preserved for men. In district judiciary at present, the judge said, the number of women judges being recruited was more than men and the average, perhaps ranging between 40 per cent and 70 per cent. “In fact, I used to joke sometimes that the male species is going to vanish from the Indian judiciary as far as the district judiciary is concerned. It is enormous,” he said. Justice Singh, therefore, stressed on ensuring workplaces remained safe, secure and encouraging. “It is not an easy task to do away with these practices because the sexual harassment is not an act arbitrated by one individual on another. In fact, it is a result of a misogynistic, patriarchal, feudalistic ideas, male chauvinistic ideas, which still prevail in the mind of many who consider that the role of women is to be confined only in the domestic sphere which again I say is antithetical to our poor constitutional values of equality, liberty, justice and dignity of the individual,” he said. Stressing on the need of gender sensitisation, he said people had to be reminded that certain acts were prohibited and couldn’t be tolerated. Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya said instead of the slogan, “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (save daughter, educate daughter)”, it should be “Beti Bachao, Beta Padhao (save daughter, educate son)” as sons needed to be sensitised more. He said due to cultural and social reasons and the nature of society we lived in, many a times one was in a denial when sexual harassment incidents came to light. “We do not feel that any such thing is happening at my home, in my neighbourhood, at my workplace or any other place, we always tend to deny that any such thing can happen,” he said. Justice Upadhyaya continued, “This is not because we want to deny it, but only because of our upbringing. And the reasons, as I said, are socio-cultural. So we have to break this denial mode, and for that, the sensitisation programmes are important.” He underscored the portal’s utility under which a complaint, irrespective of the forum, would automatically be directed either to the high court’s internal complaints committee or to the internal complaints committee of the Delhi High Court, the bar association or the Bar Council of India. Delhi High Court’s Justice Prathiba M Singh, Chairperson Internal Complaints Committee, also shared her thoughts on the portal. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)