KEYWORDS: PoSH Act, employee, women, sexual harassment
According to the case of Dr. Sohail Malik v. Union of India & Anr[1], the Delhi high court recently ruled that the sexual harassment of women at the workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013 (PoSH Act) is applicable in those cases where the victim and the harasser work in different departments.
We all live in an era where men and women are equally treated in every professional manner, that’s why there can be no comparison in the matter of the PoSH Act. the bench equalized the matter of gender in every aspect of the citizen’s life and the bench focused that the working environment for women and as a man is essential to be safe and secure.
“Even an apprehension, by a woman, that her safety might be compromised or endangered in the workplace is, therefore, abhorrent to our constitutional ethos[2],” the court said.
The court also added that “there is nothing mention in the sexual harassment at Workplace Act, which restricts to the only cases where a women employee is sexually harassed by another employee who is working in the office and excepts its application where the delinquent employee is employed elsewhere.
The court hearing the plea filed in the 2010 IRS officer batch, Dr. Sohail Malik, who had challenged an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) meeting notice. After an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer complained that Malik had harassed her sexually, Malik was issued a notice. Malik first approached the tribunal’s, principal bench, and then the high court of Delhi.
According to the court, the petitioner officer’s argument for such an interpretation would get right to the essence of the Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act. The court further decided that the Act does not protect from punishment those males who sexually harass women in workplaces other than those where they are employed.
Written by- Swati Suman, College name – Mody University of Science and Technology, Rajasthan Semester- 9th semester an intern under Legal Vidhiya
[1] Dr. Sohail Malik v. Union of India & Anr (June 30, 2023)
[2] https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/posh-act-applicable-complainant-harasser-work-different- departments-Delhi-high-court
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