“Not a workplace”: Supreme Court rejects plea to bring political parties under POSH law

The Supreme Court has rejected a plea seeking to bring registered political parties under the ambit of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act was passed in 2013 to protect women from sexual harassment at workplaces and ensure a safe working environment.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and Atul S Chandurkar said the application of the POSH Act to political parties would open a Pandora’s box and become a tool of blackmail and abuse.

“How do you equate political parties with a workplace? When a person joins a political party, it is not a job. It is not a job as he joins a political party of his own free will and without remuneration. How can the law against sexual harassment at workplace include political parties? This will open a Pandora’s box to blackmail the members,” the bench told the petitioner.

The top court was hearing an appeal against a 2022 judgment of the Kerala High Court, which said political parties were not obliged to establish IPCs in the absence of an employee-employer relationship.

Senior advocate Shobha Gupta, appearing for petitioner Yogamaya MG, argued that while many women were active members of political parties, only the CPM had an internal complaints committee.

The top court had earlier refused to hear a PIL containing a similar prayer.