False Complaint of Sexual Harassment

False complaints made on purpose or fake documents given to the committee are taken very seriously. If a victim or someone acting for them does either of these things, they could be punished based on the service rules of the workplace. If there are no service rules, the action taken against them can be decided by the Committee^{(( Section 14(1), Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013))}. As punishment they may^{(( Section 9, Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Rules, 2013.))}:

• Have to give a written apology
• Be given a warning or censure
• Not be given a promotion
• Not be given an increment
• Lose their job
• Have to have a counselling session
• Have to do community service

Just because a victim is unable to provide enough proof to the Committee, it does not always make her complaint false^{(( Section 14(1), Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.))}. The Committee will have to find out if she made a wrong complaint on purpose.

For example, if Isha makes a complaint against Rohit but there are no witnesses, documents, or anything at all that shows there was sexual harassment, her complaint will not be seen as false. But, if Isha wrote an email to a friend telling them she was lying about the harassment happening, her complaint could be seen as malicious or false.