The Supreme Court has rejected a petition seeking the application of the POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) Act to political parties, thereby declining to recognize them as workplaces. The POSH Act is designed to protect women from sexual harassment in the workplace. The court, led by Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, along with Justices K. Vinod Chandran and N.V. Anjaria, stated that applying the Act to political parties would be akin to opening a Pandora’s Box. The court emphasized that political parties cannot be considered workplaces, nor can their members be considered employees in the traditional sense. The ruling came in response to a special leave petition (SLP) filed by advocate Yogmaya M.G., challenging a Kerala High Court decision that had previously ruled against the necessity of Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs) under the POSH Act for political parties. The petitioner, represented by senior advocate Shobha Gupta, argued that the POSH Act does not provide exceptions for any institution, and excluding political parties would leave women vulnerable. The petition had requested that political parties be declared as employers under Section 2(g) of the POSH Act and mandatorily establish ICCs. The petition had named several political parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress, and the Aam Aadmi Party, among others. The court maintained the Kerala High Court’s decision, asserting that political parties are not workplaces, and dismissed the intervention.
