Overview

• The court held that the POSH Act’s internal complaints committee provisions apply only when an employer-employee relationship exists and Bar Councils do not employ practising advocates.
• A bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep V Marne disposed of the 2017 PIL by the UNS Women Legal Association without issuing further orders.
• The ruling directs women advocates to file sexual harassment and misconduct grievances under Section 35 of the Advocates Act, 1961, which addresses professional misconduct.
• Internal complaints committees and local committee requirements under the POSH Act still apply to employees of the Bar Council of India and the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa.
• Senior advocate Milind Sathe noted that district-level PoSH committees under Section 6 have been formed by magistrates but remain unavailable to practising advocates.