Constitution Of ICC Under The POSH Act

Introduction

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 ("POSH Act") was enacted as a comprehensive legislation to provide a safe, secure and enabling environment, free from sexual harassment to every woman. This statute was enacted to fill the legislative void which had been partially addressed by the judiciary in Vishaka and Others v. State of Rajasthan and Others (1997 (7) SCC 323). In this seminal public interest litigation verdict, the Supreme Court of India had framed a set of guidelines ("Vishaka Guidelines") for dealing with instances of sexual harassment at the workplace, which has now been codified in the POSH Act.

Under the POSH Act, an employer is legally required to comply with certain statutory requirements. One of these is the constitution of an Internal Complaints Committee ("ICC"), a body envisaged to receive complaints on sexual harassment at the workplace from an aggrieved woman, as well as to