POSH Act : States/UTs File Affidavits In Supreme Court Regarding Compliance With Directions To Form LCC, District Officers Etc

Pursuant to a series of orders from the Supreme Court seeking compliance with its December 3, 2024, directions for effective compliance with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act), finally, all the States and Union Territories filed their affidavit of compliance. A bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma has been passing orders in this matter. Appointment of district officersAs per the latest status report filed by amicus curiae and advocate Padmapriya, all States have complied with the direction of appointment of District Officers.The direction was: (1) The Chief Secretaries of every State shall take steps to identify and notify the Officer to be the District Officer of every District on or before 31.12.2024, if not already done.The Court has further directed that the States and Union Territories verify the list of district officers subsequent to which a list would be given to NALSA to be published on its website. It is stated that the States and Union Territories could also publish the said list on the website of the Department of Women and Child.Local Complaints CommitteeAs for the constitution of the Local Complaint Committee, most States have fulfilled that. However, the affidavit of compliance of Delhi, Haryana [details not provided for Districts Jind, Karnal and Nuh], Jharkhand [LCC not constituted in two districts] and Kerala are unclear.The direction was: (2) The District Officer shall constitute the Local Committee wherever such committees have not yet been constituted or there has to be a reconstitution of such committees already constituted on or before 31.01.2025.Further direction: "Therefore, the said States may be directed to file an additional affidavit before this Court informing about the compliance of our orders vis-a-vis the constitution of Local Complaints Committee."Internal Committee On the constitution of the Internal Committee, most States have issued appropriate directions. States and Union Territories such as Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal have conducted, and continue to conduct, extensive surveys that include private institutions.States like Bihar, Manipur and Uttarakhand have carried out surveys primarily in respect of Government institutions.However, concerns regarding the accuracy or completeness of the data have been noted in the remarks column corresponding to each of these States. Several other States have failed to furnish any information regarding the district-level survey, as directed by this Hon'ble Court on multiple occasions.The directions were: (3) The Chief Secretaries of States/Territories shall ensure that the Internal Committee shall be constituted or re-constituted, as the case may be, having regard to the Section 4 of the 2013 Act in respect of their Government Departments, instrumentalities and agencies of the State Government and public sector units and other units coming under the supervision and control Governments/Union Territories by 31.01.2025.(4) Similarly, Union of India/Central Government, shall take steps to constitute or re-constitute, as the case may be, the Internal Committee in respect of a work place, wherever the same has not yet been accomplished on or before 31.01.2025 in respect of its Departments, instrumentalities and agencies.Nodal officersMost States have appointed Nodal Officers specifically under Section 6(2) of the POSH Act. On last hearing, it was submitted that Nodal Officers are appointed under the POSH Act and also by the Central Government for its SheBox portal. However, for the latter, the appointment is not statutorily governed. She stated that there is some confusion in the information provided by States and UTs as to whether these appointed nodal officers are for the SheBox portal or under the POSH Act.In this regard, there is no clarity whether the Nodal Officer appointed is as per Section 6(2) of the POSH Act or for the SheBox Portal for the Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.As for the States and Union Territories that are yet to comply with the directions till date, the matter has been adjourned to August 12 so that they may be granted some time.Case Details: AURELIANO FERNANDES v. THE STATE OF GOA AND ORS.,|Diary No. 22553-2023Click Here To Read Order

POSH Act : States/UTs File Affidavits In Supreme Court Regarding Compliance With Directions To Form LCC, District Officers Etc

Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

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