BREAKING| Political Parties Not Bound To Establish Internal Complaints Committee Under POSH Act : Kerala High Court

In a significant decision, the Kerala High Court on Thursday observed that political parties are not legally liable to establish Internal Complaints Commitee as per the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 since there is no employer-employee relationship among its members. 

A Division Bench of Chief Justice S. Manikumar and Justice Shaji P. Chaly observed: 

"..we find that the political parties, which are not having any employer-employee relationship with its members and which are not carrying on with any private venture, undertaking, enterprises, institution, establishment etc. in contemplation of a 'workplace' as defined under section 2(o)(ii) of Act, 2013, are not liable to make any Internal Complaints Committee."

The observation came in the PIL moved by the Centre for Constitutional Rights Research and Advocacy (CCRRA) seeking directions to constitute Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) within political parties in accordance with the POSH Act 2013. The petition had arrayed Indian National Congress, Bharathiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) as the respondents in the case.

After analysing the relevant provisions of the Act, the Court was convinced that the basic requirement to become an employee one should be employed at a workplace.

"This would be more clear, if we analyse the definition of employer contained under section 2(g)(ii). Section 2(g)(i) in fact deals with the department, organisation, undertaking, establishment etc. of the appropriate Government or a local authority, head of that department, an organisation etc. So that clause 2(g) (i) would not come into play so far as the contentions advanced in the writ petitions are concerned against the respondents in the writ petition because there is no case for the petitioners that any of the organisations and the political parties would come under the term "appropriate Government" or "local body" so as to persuade such organisations to constitute an Internal Complaints Committee."

In the same judgment, the Court also held that film production houses have the responsibility to form an Internal Complaints Committee as per the POSH Act observing that each film unit in an industry is an establishment and an ICC needs to be constituted for that purpose. 

This order was passed in the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) for establishment of grievance redressal mechanism in the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), the body of Malayalam movie actors, as regards prevention of sexual harassment of women at workplaces.

Case Title: Centre for Constitutional Rights Research and Advocacy v. State of Kerala & Ors.

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Ker) 129