POSH Act Won't Apply To Sexual Harassment Complaints Of Women Bar Council Members Against Other Lawyers : Bombay High Court

A division bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep Marne held that the provisions of the POSH Act will not apply to the complaints of female lawyer members of the BCI and BCMG as there is no "employee-employer" relationship between them.

"The provisions of the Act of 2013 apply when there is an employee-employer relationship. But in case of advocates and the BCI or the BCMG, there is no such relationship as neither the BCI nor the BCMG can be said to be employers of the advocates and thus, the provisions of the Act of 2013 will not apply on complaints filed by lady lawyers," the bench recorded in the order.

A copy of the order is yet to be made available.

Further, the bench clarified that the provisions of the POSH Act will apply only to the employees of the BCI and BCMG, who are the committee members etc, of the said associations.

"It is however, made clear, that the provisions will apply on complaints filed by any of the employees or the committee members of the BCI and BCMG," the bench said.

For any kind of misconduct with lady lawyers by their male counterparts, the bench made it clear that the provisions of the Advocates Act are well in place.

"Section 35 of the Advocates Act provides action against any kind of professional or other misconduct by the lawyers. This is a remedy available for lady lawyers, to file complaints against any kind of harassment which may amount to professional or other misconduct," the judges explained.

With these observations, the bench disposed of a PIL filed by by the UNS Women Legal Association, which contended that the provisions of 2013 Act must be invoked against the complaints filed by them over sexual harassment. The PIL filed in 2017 sought the formation of permanent grievance redressal mechanisms to address sexual harassment complaints against lawyers.

The bench, however, dismissed the said PIL.