POSH Act
Source: The Economic Times
GS II: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources
Overview
- News in Brief
- POSH Act Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013
- Political party and POSH Act
Why in the News?
Supreme Court of India (SCI) declined to hear a petition seeking to apply the country’s workplace sexual harassment law called the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013 or the POSH Act to political parties.
News in Brief
- Initially stated that the matter fell within the domain of legislative policy.
- Court was not inclined to interfere.
- The petitioner’s advocate then withdrew the writ petition with liberty formally asking the Supreme Court to dismiss the petition but reserving the right to refile later.
- Indicating they would instead challenge a decision by the Kerala High Court (KHC), which held that the POSH Act provisions do not bind political parties.
POSH Act Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013
- POSH Act defined sexual harassment, lay down the procedures for complaint and inquiry, and the action to be taken in cases of sexual harassment.
- Every employer must constitute an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) at each office or branch that had 10 or more employees.
- Act defines various aspects of sexual harassment and lays down procedures for action in case of a complaint.
- Victim under the Act can be a woman “of any age, whether employed at the workplace or not”, who “alleges to have been subjected to any act of sexual harassment”.
Section 3(1) of the P0SH Act: No woman shall be subjected to sexual harassment at any workplace. The definition of “workplace” in the PoSH Act is expansive. However, the prospect of applying the Act becomes murky when it comes to political parties.
- In effect, the Act protects the rights of all women who are working or visiting any workplace, in any capacity.
- What constitutes sexual harassment?
- Physical contact and advances
- A demand or request for sexual favours
- Sexually coloured remarks
- Showing pornography
- Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature.
- It is not compulsory for the aggrieved victim to file a complaint for the ICC to take action.
- If the woman cannot complain because of “physical or mental incapacity or death or otherwise”, her legal heir may do so.
- Complaint Raising Duration
- The complaint must be made within three months of the date of the incident
- Also, ICC can extend the time limit if it is satisfied that the circumstances were such that they prevented the woman from filing a complaint within the said period.
- Enquiry procedure
- ICC may either forward the victim’s complaint to the police, or it can start an inquiry that has to be completed within 90 days.
- ICC must provide a report of its findings to the employer within 10 days after the complaint.
- The report must also be made available to both parties.
- Keeping Secracy
- The identity of the woman, respondent, witness, any information on the inquiry, recommendation and action taken, should not be made public.
- If the allegations of sexual harassment are proved, the ICC will recommend to the employer to take action in accordance with the provisions of the service rules of the company.
Vishakha v. State of Rajasthan
- It was enacted by Parliament following the Court’s landmark decision in Vishakha v. State of Rajasthan, in which the Court issued binding directions to combat workplace sexual harassment.
- In Vishakha, the Court expressly held that it was not bound by legislative inaction and could rely on international conventions to frame enforceable guidelines like law.
Political party and POSH Act
- The recent plea contended that when it comes to political parties, the presence of Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs) to address sexual harassment is inconsistent.
- In the case of Centre for Constitutional Rights Research and Advocacy v State of Kerala & Ors (2022)
- The court held that there is no employer-employee relationship with its members.
- Political parties do not carry out any private venture, undertaking, enterprise, institution, establishment, etc. in contemplation of a ‘workplace’ (under the P0SH Act)”.
- The court held that political parties are not liable to make an Internal Complaints Committee.
- POSH Act which can be difficult to determine for a political party.
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