POSH Act for advocates: SC to hear plea on applicability; notice issued to HC ruling

NEW DELHI: SC connected Friday agreed to perceive Supreme Court Women Lawyers Association's plea to marque Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act applicable to intersexual harassment complaints against advocates.

It issued a announcement of entreaty against a Bombay precocious tribunal judgement holding that the Act was not applicable to advocates.A seat of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan issued announcement connected the petition and tagged it on with a akin petition filed earlier. The relation said the HC judgement was against the principles laid down by the apex court, which had directed each nonrecreational assemblage indispensable person an interior complaints committee.Senior advocator Mahalakshmi Pavani, appearing for the petitioner, said the HC judgement near women successful the assemblage without remedies and nary imperishable grievance redress committee. She argued that the HC had adopted a constrictive mentation by holding that the POSH Act did not use successful the lack of an employer-employee relationship, and had ignored that the Act was a peculiar instrumentality meant to guarantee a harmless and dignified workplace for women.

The HC had ruled that the POSH Act did not use to complaints by pistillate advocator members of the Bar Council of India oregon the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa, saying the Act applied lone wherever determination was an employer-employee relationship, and that Bar Councils could not beryllium considered employers of advocates.