Legal Provisions for Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 — commonly called the POSH Act — is now settled law. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in September 2012 and by the Rajya Sabha on 26 February 2013, received the President’s assent on 22 April 2013, and the Act came into force on 9 December 2013. It gives statutory effect to the Supreme Court’s earlier Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan (1997) guidelines. The Act provides protection against sexual harassment of women at the workplace and for the prevention and redressal of complaints of sexual harassment and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

Whereas sexual harassment results in violation of the fundamental rights of a woman to equality under articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution of India and her right to life and to live with dignity under article 21 of the Constitution and right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business which includes a right to a safe environment free from sexual harassment.

• The Act defines sexual harassment at the workplace and creates a mechanism for redressal of complaints. It also provides safeguards against false or malicious charges.
• A complaint of sexual harassment can be filed within a time limit of 3 months. This may be extended to another 3 months if the woman can prove that grave circumstances prevented her from doing the same.
• The definition of “aggrieved woman”, who will get protection under the Act is extremely wide to cover all women, irrespective of her age or employment status, whether in the organized or unorganized sectors, public or private and covers clients, customers and domestic workers as well.
• While the “workplace” in the Vishaka guidelines is confined to the traditional office set-up where there is a clear employer-employee relationship, the Act goes much further to include organizations, department, office, branch unit etc. in the public and private sector, organized and unorganized, hospitals, nursing homes, educational institutions, sports institutes, stadiums, sports complex and any place visited by the employee during the course of employment including the transportation.
• The Committee is required to complete the inquiry within a time period of 90 days. On completion of the inquiry, the report will be sent to the employer or the District Officer, as the case may be, they are mandated to take action on the report within 60 days.
• Every employer is required to constitute an Internal Committee at each office or branch with 10 or more employees. This body was originally called the “Internal Complaints Committee” but was renamed simply the “Internal Committee” by an amendment in 2016. The District Officer is required to constitute a Local Committee (originally the “Local Complaints Committee”) at each district, and if required at the block level.
• The Complaints Committees are required to provide for conciliation before initiating an inquiry, if requested by the complainant.
• Penalties have been prescribed for employers. Non-compliance with the provisions of the Act shall be punishable with a fine of up to Rs 50,000. Repeated violations may lead to higher penalties and cancellation of licence or registration to conduct business. The Supreme Court has stressed strict enforcement: in Aureliano Fernandes v. State of Goa (2023) it noted serious gaps in the Act’s implementation and issued directions to governments and institutions to ensure that Internal Committees and Local Committees are properly constituted and that the law is effectively complied with.
• In case of malicious or false complaints, the Act provides for a penalty according to the Service Rules. However, this clause has a safeguard in the form of an enquiry prior to establishing the malicious intent. Also, mere inability to prove the case will not attract penalty under this provision.