RIGHTS OF THE VULNERABLE 1997 (6) see 241 were not being implemented adequately, whether in institutions of the public sector or in those of the private sector. Many institutions had not set up the eomplaints eommittee, required imder the judgement, to deal with complaints of sexual harassment at the work place. There also appeared to be a certain ambiguity with regard to the exact role of the Complaints Committee and whether such a Committee could be equated with an Inquiry Committee set-up in a disciplinary inquiry, or whether it had a wider role. 6.23 In order to consider and clarify these issues a meeting was convened under the Chairmanship of Justice (Smt.) SujataV Manohar, Member, NHRCon 1March 2001 to discuss the exact role of the Complaints Committee as envisaged by the Supreme Court in the Vishaka judgement. 6.24 The decisions taken in the meeting were as follows: • The findings of the Complaints Committee in all matters pertaining to sexual harassment at the place of work should be considered as final against the delinquent official as this would lead to early decision on the sensitive issue and save the victim from undue harassment. For this purpose, the inquiry conducted by the Complaints Committee should be deemed to be the inquiry conducted in a departmental inquiry under the disciplinary proceedings drawnup against the delinquent official. • The composition of the Complaints Committee should conform to the Supreme Court guidelines in the Vishaka case. The Complaints Committee should be a permanent body available to the employees and not a committee constituted to consider a given complaint only. • The overall mechanism of the Complaints Committee should be based on the principle of natural justice so that fair and just inquiry is conducted against the delinquent officer. • To achieve the above objectives, it was suggested that suitable amendments be carried out in the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965 by the Department of Personnel and "framing (DOPT), Government of India in addition to the notifications already issued. • It was suggested that themes, based on the important guidelines prescribed by ANNUAL REPORT 2000-2001 j 63