THE KERALA WOMEN'S
COMMISSION ACT, 1990
(ACT 17 OF 1995)
An Act to provide for the Constitution of a Women's
Commission to improve the status of women in the State of Kerala and to enquire
into unfair practices affecting women and for matters connected therewith or
incidental thereto.
Preamble.-WHEREAS it is expedient to provide
for the Constitution of a Commission to improve the status of women in the
State of Kerala and to enquire into unfair practices affecting women and for
matters connected therewith or incidental thereto;
BE it enacted in the
Forty-second Year of the Republic of India as follows:
1.
Short title, extent and commencement.-(1) This Act may be called
the Kerala Women's Commission Act, 1991.
(2) It extends
to the whole of the State of Kerala.
(3) It shall come into force on such date as the
Government may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.
2.
Definitions.-In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) "Commission"
means the Commission constituted under section 5;
(b) "Director"
means the Director appointed under section 12;
(c) "Government"
means the Government of Kerala;
(d) "member"
means a member of the commission and includes the Chairperson;
(e) "person"
includes a firm, company, corporation, or any public undertaking, association
of persons, or the Govenment and its agencies including agencies receiving aid
from the Government;
(f) "prescribed"
means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(g) "public
servant" means any employee of the Government or a local body or any
corporation owned or controlled by the Government or of any Government agency
or any public undertakings;
(h) "registered"
means registered with the commission under the Act;
(i)
"unfair practice" means any distinction, exclusion on
restriction made on the basis of sex for the purpse of or which has the effect
of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women of
fundamental constitutional rights, or of human rights, or of fundamental
freedom in the political, economic, social cultural, civil or any other field
or the infringement of any rights or benefit conferred on women by or under
the provisions of any law for the time being in force or the mental or physical
torture of sexual excesses on women.
3.
Act not to apply in certain cases.- This Act shall not apply to
(i)
the Central Government; or
(ii) any public sector undertaking of the Central
Government or any other institution owned or controlled or financed directly by
the Central Government.
4.
Application of other laws not barred.-Save as otherwise provide,
the provisions of this Act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of,
any other law for the time being in force, except to the extent the provisions
of the other law are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act.
5.
Constitution of the Commission.- [(1)]
For the prupose of this Act the Government shall, by notification in the
Gazette, constitute a commission to be known as the Kerala Women's Commission
which shall consist of [a
Chairperson and not more than two other members to be appointed by the
Government:
Provided that
the members appointed to the Commission shall be women]
[(2)]
The Chairperson shall be an eminent women committed to the cause of women with
sufficient knowledge and experience in dealing with women's problems.
[(3)]
The members of the commission shall be persons of ability integrity,
intelligence and standing and having adequate knowledge or experience or have
shown ability in dealing with problems relating to safeguarding and promoting
the interests of women and protecting their rights.
6. Term
of office and conditions of service of members.-(1) Every member shall hold
office for a period of five years.
(2) Notwithstanding
anything contained in sub-section (1) a member may--
(i)
by writing under his hand and addressed to the Government resign his
office at any time;
(ii) be removed from his office in accordance with
the provisions of section 11.
(3)
A vacancy arising by reason of resignation or removal of any member of
the Commission under sub-section (2) or otherwise shall be filled up in
accordance with the rpovisions contained in section 5:
Provided that a person
so appointed shall hold office for the remaining period of the term of the
person in whose place such person is appointed.
[(4)
The members shall receive a fixed honorarium and other allowances and shall be
governed by such conditions of service, as may be prescribed:
Provided that the
fixation of the honorarium shall be without taking into consideration the past
service rendered by the person in any capacity before his appointment as a
member.]
7.
Quorum.-The quorum for a meeting of the Commission shall be
[two]
8.
Disposal of business.-(1) The
meeting of the Commission shall be presided over by the Chairperson
or in her absence a member chosen for the purpose by the members
present.
(2) All
questions at a meeting of the Commission shall be decided by the majority of
the votes of the members present and voting and in case of equality of votes
the Chairpeprson or the member presiding, as the case may be, shall have a
second or casting vote.
(3) The
Commission may invite, if it is considered necessary, for such purposes and on
such conditions as may be prescribed, any person with expert knowledge in a
particular suibject to be present at the meeting to assist the Commission in
arriving at a decision but such person shall not be entitled to vote.
9.
Constitution of ad hoc committee.-(1) The Commission may for the
purpose of transacting any business before it or for any special issue
consitute and ad hoc committee consisting of-
(a) not
more than two members of the Commission;
(b) not
more than two experts on the particular subject before the Commission.
(2) If the Chairperson
is a member of the committee the Chairperson or any other member shall preside
over the meeting of the Committee.
(3) The provisions of
the section 7, section 8 and section 20 shall mutatis mutandis apply to
the meeting of the committee.
(4) The final report
of the ad hoc committee shall be placed before the Commission for its
approval and on the approval thereof by the commission it shall be deemed to be
the report of the Commission.
(5) The person in
the ad hoc committee shall bepaid such remuneration as may be
prescribed.
10. Acts
of the Commission not to be invalidated by infirmity or any vacancy, etc.-No
act or proceeding of the Commission shall be invalidated by reason only of any
defect or irregularity in its consitution or on the ground of existence of any
vacancy in the office of any member.
11. Removal
of members from office.- Any member of the Commission may be removed from
office by an order of the Government, if he-
(a) becomes
an undischarged insolvent;
(b) is
convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for an offence which involves moral
turpitude;
(c) becomes
of unsound mind;
(d) refuses
to act or becomes incapable of acting;
(e) is
without obtaining leave of absence from the Commission absents from three
consecutive meetings of the Commission; or
(f) in
the opinion of the Government has so abused the position of Chairperson or
member as to render that person's continuance in office detrimental to the
public interest:
Provided that a member shall not be removed under
this section until that person has been given a reasonable opportunity of being
heard in the matter.
12. Appointment
of Director and other staff of the Commission.-(1) The Government may, in
consultation with the Commission, appoint a Director for making investigations
for the purposes of this Act and to carry out such directives given to him by
the Commission besides the functions conferred on him by this Act. The
Government may appoint such other staff as may be necessary to assist the
Commission by deputation or by direct recruitment and prescribe their
conditions of service:
Provided that
in the case of direct recruitment, the provisions of rule 14, 15, 16 and 17 of
the Kerala State and Subordinate Service Rules, 1958, shall apply.
(2) The
qualifications, term of appoint and other conditions of service of the Director
shall be such as may be prescribed.
(3) In the discharge of their functions under
this Act the Director and other staff referred to in sub-section (1) shall be
subject to the administrative control of the Chairperson.
13. Provision
for salaries, allowances, etc.- The [honorarium
and allowances payable to the members] and the administrative expenses,
including the salaries, allowances and pensions payable to, or in respect of,
the Director and the other staff of the Commission, shall be charged on the
Consolidated Fund of the State.
14. Registrat
ion of woken's organisation.-Any women's organisation
governed by written rules, regulations or bye-laws and working
for the uplift, development, welfare or promotion of the interests
of of women or women's wing of any other organisation having
all or any of the above activiies as one of tis objectives may
apply to the Director for registration of such organisation
with the Commission, in such form and in such manner as may
be prescribed.
(2)
The Director shall verify the applications in such manner as may be
prescribed and recommend to the Commission, the organisation qualified for
registration and reject the other applications.
(3)
The Commission may consider the recommendation and direct that the name
and particulars of the roganisations qualified to be registered be entered in
the Register maintained for the purpose in the manner prescribed and shall
issue a certificate of registration in the prescribed form.
(4)
The Commission may, at any time, either on its own motion or otherwise
cancel the registration of any organisation, after giving an opportunity to be
heard and on being satisfied that it is no longer qualified to continue as a
registered organisation.
(5)
The party aggrieved by the decision of the Director under sub-section
(2) may file an appeal before the Gommission within such time and in such
manner as may be prpescribed and thereupon the Commission shall after
conducting such enquiry as it deems fit and giving the party an opportunity of
being heard, pass appropriate orders thereon.
15. Powers
of the Commission.-(1) The Commission shall, for the purpose of any inquiry
under this Act, have the same powers as are vested in a civil court while trying
a suit under the Code of Civil Proceedure, 1908 (Central Act 5 of 1908), in
respect of the following matters, namely:-
(a) summoning
and enforcing the attendance of any witness and examining him;
(b) requiring
the discovery and production of any document;
(c) receiving
evidence on affidavits;
(d) requisitioning
any public records or copy thereof from any public office;
(e) issuing
commissions for the examination of witnesses.
(2) Any proceeding
before the Commissions shall be deemed to be a judicial proceeding within
meaning of sections 193 and 228 of the Indian Penal Code (Central Act 45 of
1860) an the Commission shall be deemed to be a court for the purpose of
section 195 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Central Act 2 of 1974).
16. Functions
of the commission.-(1) The Commission shall perform all or any of the
following functions, namely:-
(i)
inquire into any unfair practice, take decision thereon and to recommend
to the Government the action to be taken in that matter;
(ii) cause
investigation to be made by the director on issues of importance concerning
women and issues concerning unfair practice and to report thereon to the
Government on the corrective measures to be taken;
(ii)
submit to the Government annual reports on,-
(a) the
lacunae, inadequacies, or shortcomings in the laws in force which affect the
constitutional right to equality and fair treatment of women and also on the
remedial legislative measures to be taken to meet the situation;
(b) the
monitoring of the working of laws in force concerning women with a view to
identifying the areas where the enforcement of laws is not adequately effective
or has not been streamlined and recommending excutive or legislative measures
to be taken;
(c) monitoring
the recruitments made to State Public Services and State Public Undertakings
and promotions within the said services and scrutinising the rules and
regulations governing such recruitments and promotions with a view to reporting
to the Government action, if any, required to guarantee equal opportunity to women
in the matters of such recruitments and promotions;
(iv) (a)
inspect or cause to be inspected, by the Director or any officer of the
Commission authorised by the Commission in that behalf, prisons, police
stations, lock-ups, sub-jails, rescure homes or other places of custody where
women are kept as prisoners or otherwise, or shelters for women or other places
run by the Government or any of its agencies including agencies receiving aid
from the Government for the purpose of offering rescue or shelter to women, or
hostels intended for women or girls run by any person and such other places
wherein unfair practice to women is complained of and cause further inquires
to be made about the treatment that women and girls are subjected to at such
places and to report to the Government for taking remedial action.
(b) in cases
where the Commission is of the view that any public servant has been grossly
negligent or grossly indifferent in regard to the discharge of his duties in
relation to the protection of the interests of women recommend to the concerned
disciplinary authority to intiate disciplinary action;
(v) recommend to Government, the welfare measures to
be adopted and implemented by the Government with a view to ameliorating the
conditions of women;
(vi)
formulate a comprehensive and affirmative scheme for securing equal
opportunities to women and devise a programme for implementing such scheme
which shall be forwarded to the Government for approval and on obtaining
approval thereof with orwithout modifications, implement the same;
(vii) empower
the Director to recommend to the appropriate authority to take prosecution
proceedings in respect of offences committed against women under any statute
providing for penalty for violation of the provisions of such statute;
(viii)
maintain comprehensive Data Bank relating to the Social, economic and political
conditions of women including comparative study, updating the same from time to
time making available such data for use in actions for vindication of the
rights of women;
(ix)
recommend to Government to initiate legislation for removal of discrimination
in the case of inheritance, guardianship, adoption and divorce or for matters
relating to the safeguarding of the dignity of women and the honour of
motherhood;
(x) call for
special studies or investigations into specific problems or situations arising
out of discrimination and atrocities against women and indentify the
constraints so as to recommend strategies for their removal;
(xi)
participate and advise on the planning process of socio economic development of
women;
(xii) fund
litigation involving issues affecting a large body of women;
(xiii) make
periodical reports to the Government on any matter pertaining to women and in
particular various difficulties under which women toil;
(xiv)
undertake promotional and educational research so as to suggest ways of
ensuring due representation of women in all spheres and identify factors
responsible for impeding their advancement, such as, lack of access to housing
and basic services, inadequate support services and technologies for, reducing
durdgery and occupational health hazards and for increasing their productivity;
(xv) any other
matter which may be referred to it by the Government.
(2) The Government shall lay the recommendations of
the commission under sub-section (1) before the Legislative Assembly during its
next session and cause action to be taken thereon by the authority concerned
within two months from the date of laying such recommendations.
17. Inquiry
into unfair practices.-(1) The Commission shall inquire into any unfair
practice,-
(a) on
receiving a written complaint from any woman alleging that she has been
subjected to any unfair practice or on a similar complaint from any registered
women's organistion;
(b) on
its own knowledge or information;
(c) on
any request from the Government.
(2) Where the
complaint has been made under clause (a) of sub-section (1)s the Commission
may, before the issue of any process to the person complained against, cause a
preliminary investigation to be made by the Director in such manner as it may
deem fit, for the purpose of satisfying itself that the complaint requires to
be enquired.
(3) Where the
person against whom the complaint has been made, appears and shows cause or
fails to appear on the day appointed for that purpose the Commision may proceed
to inquire into the matter in the complaint and take a decision thereon and if
the Commission finds that there is unfair practice, it shall recommend to the
Government the action to be taken thereon or initiate prosecution.
(4) The
Government shall, within two months from the date of receipt of the
recommendation of the Commission under sub-section (3), take a decision thereon
and intimate the same to the Commission.
18.
Initiation of Prosecution.-If,
after invesigation into any complaint under section 17, the
Commission is satisfied that a person has committed any criminal
offence and that he should be prosecuted in a court of law for
such offence, then it may pass an order to that effect and initiate
prosecution of the person concerned, if there is no necessity
for prior sanction, and if prior sanction of any authority is
required for such prosecution, then notwithstanding anything
contained in any law, such sanction shall be gtranted by that
authority within thirty days of the request by the Commision
and if such sanction is not granted within the said period such
sanction shall be deemed to have been granted by that authority.
19. Annual
report to be laid before the Legislative Assembly.-The annual report
submitted to the Government by the Commission in accordance with clause (iii)
of sub-section (1) of section 16 shall be laid, before the Legislative
Assembly, as soon as may be, after the report is received by the Government.
20. Sittings
of the commission.-(1) The commission shall hold sittings ordinarily at
Thiruvananthapuram, to enquire into any unfair practice but it may hold
sittings at any other place in the State.
(2)
The Commission shall with the previous approval of the Government make
regulations for regulating its procedure and the disposal of its business and
which regulations shall, after they are made, be published in the Gazette.
(3)
The Chairperson may, with the approval of the Commission, assign any
function of the Chairperson or of the Commission to any other member or
members of the Commission.
21. Authentication
of orders, etc, of the Commission.-All orders and decisions of, and all
other proceedings or instruments, if any, issued by the Commission shall be
authenticated by the signature of the Director or of such other officer as may
be authorised by the Commission in this behalf.
22. Donations,
contributions, etc., to the Commission.-The Commission may, with the
previous sanction of the Government and subject to such terms and conditions as
may be specified in this behalf by the Government, receive money from any
organisation, or person by way of donation, contribution, or by whatever name
called, for the purposes of this Act.
23. Government
to consult the Commission.-The Government shall consult the Commission on
all major policy maters affecting women.
24. Members,
officers and employees of the Commission to be public servants.-All
members, officers and other employees of the Commission shall be deemed, when
acting or purporting to act in pursuance of any of the provisions of this Act,
to be pulic servants within the meaning of section 21 of the Indian Penal Code
(Central Act 45 of 1860).
25. Protection
of acts done in good faith.- No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings
shall lie against any member of the Commission or any officer of the Commission
for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act
or the rules made thereunder.
26. Court
not to grant injunctions.- Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code
of civil Procedure, 1908 (Central Act 5 of 1908), or any other law for the time
being in force, no court shall grant any injunction restraining any proceeding
which is being or about to be taken under the provisions of this Act.
27. Removal
of difficulties.-(1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the
provisions of this Act, the Government may, by order, do anything not
inconsistent with such provisions to remove such difficulty.
(2)
No order under sub-section (1) shall be made after the expiration of a
period of two years from the commencement of this Act.
(3)
Every order made under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be
after it is made before the Legislative Assembly.
28. Power to make rules.-(1)
The Government may, by notification in the Gazette, make rules for the purpose
of carrying into effect the aprovisions of this Act.
(2)
In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing
power, such rules may provide for-
(3)
["(a)]
the honorarium, allowances and other conditions of service of the members; the
salary allowances and other conditions of service of the Director and other
staff of the Commission;"]
(b) procedure
for removal of the members of the commission under section 11;
(c) the
procedure for registration under section 14 of the Act;
(d) procedure
for inquiries under section 17 of the Act;
(e) investigations
by the Director;
(f) procedure
for inspection of prisons, police stations, lock-ups, sub-jails, resecue homes
or other places of custody where women are kept as prisoners or otherwise or
shelters for women or other places run by the Government or any of its agencies
including agencies receiving aid from the Government for the purpose of
offering rescue or or shelter to women or hostels intended for women or girls
run by any person and such other places wherein unfair practice to women or
girls is complained of or for holding of enquiries about the treatment that
women or girls are subjected to at such places;
(g)
maintaining a Date Bank;
(h) the
formulation of comprehensive and affirmative scheme for securing equal
opportunity to women and for the improvement and uplift of women and programme
for its implementation;
(i)
procedure for recommending prosecution in respect of offences committed
against women under any statute;
(j) any
other matter which has to be, or may be, prescribed.
(3) Every rule made under
this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before the
Legislative Assembly, while it is in session, for a total period of fourteen
days which may be comprised in one session or in two successive sessions, and
if, before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the session
immediately following, the Legislative Assembly makes any modification in the
rule or decides that the rules should not be made, the rule shall thereafter
have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be;
so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice
to the validity of anything previously dne under that rule.