Sugar mill GM found guilty of sexual harassment, action sought

Chandigarh, May 8 (UNI) The Punjab Sugar Mills Employees Union has demanded strong action against the Morinda Cooperative Sugar Mill general manager Gurjit Singh as he has been found guilty of sexually harassing a 40-year-old widow employee in the same mill.

A three-member probe committee, headed by Sugarfed financial advisor B S Jaffal, has recently submitted a report to Sugarfed MD V K Singh in which the Morinda Mill General Manager has been found guilty of sexually harassing the victim several times.

The two other members of the probe panel were Faridkot Sugar Mill general manager Partap Singh and Tarn Taran Sugar Mill general manager M P Singh.

After the findings of the inquiry panel, Punjab Cooperation Minister Jagjit Singh Randhawa has, however, marked another inquiry into the charges against the GM by assigning Additional Registrar Bhupinderjit Singh Randhawa to probe the matter last week.

The Mills Employees Union has questioned the second inquiry after the findings of the Jaffal probe committee.

''When the first committee has already probed the matter then there is no need for a second inquiry,'' the Mills Union president Karnail Singh Lakhmipur said.

The complaint against the General Manager was lodged with the Sugarfed MD on February 23.

The Jaffal Committee had recorded the statements of the woman complainant and the witnesses during the probe before finding Girjit Singh guilty of sexually harassing her.

The Punjab Sugar Mills Employees Union and the complainant told UNI here that they would move the Punjab State Human Rights Commission and the Punjab Women's Commission if no action was taken against the Morinda sugar mill general manager.

UNI PS SHB RS1812