Bombay HC Rejects Plea To Set Up ICCs For Advocates Under POSH Act, Says Law Doesn't Apply Without Employer-Employee Relationship

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday dismissed a PIL seeking the formation of permanent Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs) under the POSH Act within the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa (BCMG) and the Bar Council of India (BCI).

A bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep Marne held that the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 [POSH Act] applies only where there is an employer-employee relationship.

“Neither the Bar Council of India nor the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa can be said to be the employers of advocates… Thus, the provisions of the POSH Act, 2013 do not apply to advocates,” the Court ruled.

The petition was filed in 2017 by the UNS Women Legal Association, seeking a permanent grievance redressal mechanism for addressing sexual harassment complaints within the legal profession.

While rejecting the plea, the Court clarified that advocates facing harassment by fellow lawyers are not left without remedy. They can initiate proceedings under Section 35 of the Advocates Act, 1961, which allows complaints of professional or other misconduct.

“Section 35 of the Advocates Act provides action against any kind of professional or other misconduct by the lawyers. This is a remedy available for lady lawyers,” the bench observed.

Senior Advocate Milind Sathe, representing the BCMG, informed the Court that Local Committees under the POSH Act have already been constituted across districts, chaired by District Magistrates, as required under Section 6 of the Act.

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However, the Court clarified that the POSH Act would still apply to employees of Bar Councils or Bar Associations, provided they have more than ten employees, meeting the statutory threshold.