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Synopsis

The Apex Court has expressed displeasure over the poor implementation of the provisions of the Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (POSH) Act, 2013 and thus, issued some important guidelines for proper implementation of the Act.

The division bench of Justices Hima Kohli and A.S.Bopanna was hearing an appeal against the judgment dated March 15, 2012, passed by the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court.

“It is quite disquieting to note that there are serious lapses in the enforcement of the Act even after such a long passage of time,” the bench observed.

"This glaring lacuna was recently brought to light by a National daily newspaper, which conducted and published a study of 30 national sports federations in the country and discovered that 16 of them have yet to form an ICC," the division bench noted.

"This social ill must be addressed immediately through effective implementation. And in order to do this, it is critical to educate the people about the significance and operation of the Act," said the bench.

Accordingly, Justices Kohli and Bopanna issue a slew of directions to ensure strict implementation of the provisions of the POSH Act, 2013.

1. The court directed the Union of India, all State govt. And Union Territories to conduct a time-bound exercise to verify whether all relevant Ministries, Departments, Government organisations, authorities, Public Sector Undertakings, institutions, bodies, have established ICCs/LCs/ICs strictly in accordance with the provisions of the POSH Act

2. To ensure all necessary information regarding the constitution and composition of the ICCs/LCs/ICs, internal policies, rules and regulations should be available on the website of the concerned Authority and shall be updated from time to time.

3. Authorities should take some important and effective steps to familiarize members of the ICCs/LCs/ICs with their duties and the manner in which an inquiry ought to be conducted on receiving a complaint of sexual harassment at the workplace, from the point when the complaint is received, till the inquiry is finally concluded and the Report submitted.

4. The authorities shall conduct orientation programmes, workshops, seminars and awareness programmes to educate women employees and women’s groups about the provisions of the Act, the Rules and relevant regulations.

5. Court directed NALSA and SALSA to develop modules to conduct workshops and organize awareness programmes in accordance with the POSH Act.

6. The National Judicial Academy and the State Judicial Academies shall include orientation programmes, seminars, and workshops in their annual calendars for capacity building of members of the ICCs/LCs/ICs established in the High Courts and District Courts, as well as for drafting Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to conduct an inquiry under the Act and Rules.

Case Title: Aureliano Fernandes vs. State of Goa & Ors.