SC takes stock of countrywide compliance of POSH Act

The Supreme Court on Tuesday took stock of the implementation of gender-sensitive provisions for women at workplaces across the country by asking high courts to report establishment of internal complaints committee across all courts and tribunals and directed states, union territories to comply with statutory requirements of appointing district and nodal officers for redressal of sexual harassment complants.

In two separate proceedings, the court passed the orders - the first being a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by one Geeta Rani seeking uniform implementation of The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 or POSH Act, and the other being a pending petition filed by a victim of sexual harassment where the court is monitoring country-wide directions issued to states and union territories to give full effect to the Act provisions.

In the first case, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant called for a status report from all high courts on whether Gender Sensitisation and Internal Complaints Committee (GSICC) have been constituted by all high courts, district or sub-divisional courts, tribunals, bar associations and other allied courts to deal with sexual harassment complaints filed by women and transgender persons.

Appearing for the petitioner Geeta Rani, senior advocate Sonia Mathur said that seven high courts have not framed regulations for setting up these committees, while district courts under the high courts of Delhi, Punjab & Haryana, are yet to form GSICC.

Mathur said that under a 2014 decision in Binu Tamta v Delhi high court, the top court had underlined the requirement for such committees and yet, courts where women lawyers, litigants and staff are professionally engaged have no recourse to vent their grievances.

The bench, also comprising justice Joymalya Bagchi, issued notice on the petition to all high courts to know the implementation of the 2013 Act across all judicial forums.

The petition said, “The absence of a gender-sensitized complaint-handling structure in many courts, bar associations and tribunals results in serious constitutional violations and discourages women from fully participating in the justice delivery process.”

It further stated that sensitization and awareness among court administration, judicial staff, security personnel and lawyers is also inadequate and this “systemic deficiency” exposes women to an unsafe environment and undermines their constitutional guarantees.

In a separate proceeding, a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan dealt with the issue of implementation of POSH Act provisions across states and UTs and was informed that following a survey carried out by states/UTs on court orders, several public and private establishments were yet to form internal complaints committee, district officers, nodal officers for effective reporting mechanism of sexual harassment complaints.

A report presented by advocate Padma Priya assisting the court as amicus curiae showed that most states have issued appropriate directions for the constitution and re-constitution of ICCs. While Andaman & Nicobar, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir have constituted ICCs in all the government establishments, states/UTs of Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal are still conducting survey to identify institutions that are yet to have ICCs.

She pointed out that some states/UTs, including Bihar, and Manipur, have carried out surveys primarily in respect of government institutions and not for private institutions, as mandated by the court.

The bench directed the status report to be shared with all states/UTs and sought their responses in three weeks. The national legal service authority (NALSA) informed the court that the information about district officers have been published on NALSA portal However, NALSA counsel Rashmi Nandkumar informed that nine states/UTs are yet to convey this information.

Further, the court directed nodal officers to also be appointed in compliance with section 6(2) of the Act by the next date of hearing. As the court was informed that the Ministry of Women and Child Development has established She-Box for reporting of complaints by victims under the Act, the bench said that adequate publicity has not been provided about the same.

The court directed the Centre to publicise the She-Box portal through print and electronic media.

The 2013 POSH Act had replaced the court-mandated Vishaka guidelines of 1997 to address a vacuum in law for protecting women who face sexual harassment and discrimination at workplaces. Section 9 of the Act requires any woman to lodge a written complaint with an internal committee (if the employer has more than 10 employees) or a local committee (LC) where there are less than 10 employees.

The court has been engaging with states and UTs on implementing the law as the court had earlier observed, “A woman cannot give up her job because of sexual harassment. It affects her right to life under Article 21 and right to occupation under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India.”