POSH and Political Parties

Syllabus: GS1/Society

Context

• The Supreme Court allowed a petitioner to withdraw her plea challenging the exclusion of women political workers from the ambit of protection under the POSH Act.

About

• The plea mentioned that the definitions of ‘workplace’ and ‘employer’ under the 2013 Act must be expanded to include the political spectrum.
  • It sought a declaration from the court that “political parties are bound to follow the procedure for protection of women in the workplace under the POSH Act”.
• The court suggested the petitioner to get some women Parliamentarians on board and present a private member bill, as this falls within the domain of Parliament.

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013

• Definition of Sexual Harassment includes physical contact, demands for sexual favors, making sexually colored remarks, showing pornography, and any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct.
• Applies to all workplaces in India, including the private sector, government offices, NGOs, educational institutions, and the unorganized sector.
• Employee: All women employees, whether employed regularly, temporarily, contractually, on an ad hoc or daily wage basis, as apprentices or interns or even employed without the knowledge of the principal employer, can seek redressal to sexual harassment in the workplace.
• Constitution of Internal Complaints Committee (ICC): Employers are required to constitute an ICC at each office or branch with 10 or more employees.
  • It has to be headed by a woman, have at least two women employees, another employee, and a third party such as an NGO worker with five years of experience. 
• Local Committee (LC): It mandates every district in the country to create a local committee (LC) to receive complaints from women working in firms with less than 10 employees.
• Procedure for Filing Complaints: Woman can file a written complaint within three to six months of the sexual harassment incident.
  • There are two ways to resolve the issue by the committee- through conciliation between the complainant and the respondent (which cannot be a financial settlement), or committees could initiate an inquiry, taking appropriate action based on what it finds.
• Time-bound inquiry and action: Complaints must be resolved within 90 days.
• Annual Audit Report: The employer has to file an annual audit report with the district officer about the number of sexual harassment complaints filed and actions taken at the end of the year. 
• Penalty for non-compliance includes a fine up to ₹50,000 and potential cancellation of business licenses for repeated violations.

Read our detailed article on Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act (POSH Act).

Challenges in Implementing POSH in Political Parties

• Absence of Employer-Employee Relationship: Political parties do not establish a formal employment relationship with their party workers.
  • They are volunteers who have pledged their loyalty to a party without aspirations of any employment benefits. 
• Definition of Workplace: Political parties are registered entities but not governed by labour or employment laws.
• Informality of Work and Membership: Many party workers, volunteers, and grassroots cadres operate in informal, unpaid roles, making it difficult to define their status under the POSH framework.
• Non-Transparency and Lack of Accountability: Parties function with opaque internal systems and rarely make information on complaints or redressal mechanisms public.

Way Forward

• Encourage the Election Commission of India to issue directives for internal accountability mechanisms on sexual harassment within parties.
• Additionally, political parties can take the proactive step of including provision for sexual harassment prevention in their party’s Constitution and Rules. 
• Such an action will reflect their true commitment to women’s safety more than the speeches spoken in their rallies. 

Source: TH