Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Eve-Teasing Act, 1998

The Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Eve-Teasing Act, 1998

Act No. 44 of 1998

23rd December 1998

AN ACT TO PROHIBIT EVE-TEASING IN ANY PLACE IN THE STATE OF TAMIL NADU. BE it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Tamil Nadu in the Forty-ninth Year of the Republic of India as follows:

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S.1 Short title and commencement

(1) This Act may be called the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Eve-teasing Act, 1998.

(2) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 30th day of July 1998.

S.2 Definitions

(a) "harassment" means any indecent conduct or act by a man which causes or is likely to cause intimidation, fear, shame or embarrassment, including abusing or causing hurt or nuisance or assault or use of force.

(b) "public service vehicle" has the same meaning as defined in clause (35) of section 2 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

(c) words and expressions used but not defined in this Act shall have the meanings assigned to them in the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

S.3 Prohibition of eve-teasing

Eve-teasing at any place is prohibited.

S.4 Penalty for eve-teasing

Whoever commits or participates in or abets harassment of woman in or within the precincts of any educational institution, temple or other place of worship, bus stop, road, railway station, cinema theatre, park, beach, place of festival, public service vehicle or any other place shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees or both.

S.5 Responsibility of management of any precinct

(1) The crew of a public service vehicle or vessel shall take such steps as they may deem fit to prevent harassment of woman in the vehicle or vessel. Where such harassment is committed in public service vehicle, the crew of such vehicle shall, on a complaint made by the aggrieved person, take such vehicle to the nearest police station and give information to the police.

S.8 Operation of other laws not affected

The provisions of this Act shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, any other law for the time being in force.

S.9 Power to make rules

(1) The State Government may make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.

(2) All rules made under this Act shall be published in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette and unless they are expressed to come into force on a particular day shall come into force on the day on which they are so published.

(3) Every rule made under this Act shall, as soon as possible after it is made, be placed on the table of the Legislative Assembly, and if, before the expiry of the session in which it is so placed or the next session, the Assembly makes any modification in any such rule, or the Assembly decides that the rule 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 done under that rule.