The law is well known. The machinery is not.
Most people know that a law against sexual harassment at the workplace exists. Very few know how a complaint under it actually moves — who receives it, within what time, who decides, how long they have, and what happens when the employer has constituted no committee at all.
This piece sets out that machinery, provision by provision. It is a description of procedure. It is not advice on anyone’s facts, and it makes no claim about how any particular complaint would be decided.
The statute is the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, read with the POSH Rules, 2013. It has its origin in Vishaka v State of Rajasthan, (1997) 6 SCC 241, decided on 13 August 1997, where the Supreme Court laid down binding guidelines in the absence of legislation. The Act came into force on 9 December 2013 and replaced those guidelines with a statutory scheme.
Who is covered, and where
Three definitions do most of the work, and each is broader than people expect.
“Aggrieved woman” — section 2(a). In relation to a workplace, a woman of any age, whether employed or not, who alleges to have been subjected to any act of sexual harassment by the respondent. She does not have to be an employee of that workplace.
“Employee” — section 2(f). A person employed for any work on a regular, temporary, ad hoc or daily wage basis, directly or through an agent or contractor, with or without the principal employer’s knowledge, whether for remuneration or not, or working on a voluntary basis — and it expressly includes a co-worker, contract worker, probationer, trainee and apprentice.
“Workplace” — section 2(o). An inclusive definition running to six limbs. Two of them are routinely missed: any place visited by the employee arising out of or during the course of employment, including transportation provided by the employer; and a dwelling place or a house.
“Sexual harassment” — section 2(n) is also inclusive, covering physical contact and advances, a demand or request for sexual favours, sexually coloured remarks, showing pornography, and any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature. Section 3(2) adds five circumstances — implied or explicit promise of preferential treatment, threat of detrimental treatment, threat about present or future employment status, interference with work or a hostile working environment, and humiliating treatment likely to affect health or safety.
The Internal Committee — section 4
Section 4(1) obliges every employer to constitute an Internal Complaints Committee by an order in writing. Note the wording carefully: section 4 itself contains no numerical threshold. The “ten workers” line that everyone quotes lives elsewhere — in section 6(1) — and it is what determines when the Local Committee steps in instead. The practical result is the familiar one: an Internal Committee is required where the workplace has ten or more workers, and a workplace with fewer than ten falls to the Local Committee. But the threshold is not in section 4, and citing it there is a common error.
A small point of nomenclature, since both terms are in circulation: section 4 uses “Internal Complaints Committee”, and section 2(h) defines “Internal Committee” to mean an Internal Complaints Committee constituted under section 4. Both names are statutorily correct. (The 2016 amendment renamed the Local Complaints Committee to “Local Committee” — it did not touch section 4.)
Composition — section 4(2):
- A Presiding Officer, who must be a woman employed at a senior level at the workplace from amongst the employees. Provisos deal with the case where no senior-level woman is available.
- Not less than two members from amongst employees, preferably committed to the cause of women, or with experience in social work, or with legal knowledge.
- One member from a non-governmental organisation or association committed to the cause of women, or a person familiar with issues relating to sexual harassment. This is the external member, and it is not optional.
- A proviso requires that at least one-half of the total members nominated shall be women.
Term — section 4(3): members hold office for such period not exceeding three years as the employer specifies. It is a ceiling, not a fixed term.
When there is no Internal Committee — sections 5, 6 and 7
Section 5 allows the appropriate Government to notify a District Magistrate, Additional District Magistrate, Collector or Deputy Collector as the District Officer for every district.
Section 6 requires every District Officer to constitute a Local Committee in the district. It receives complaints from establishments where an Internal Committee has not been constituted because there are fewer than ten workers, or where the complaint is against the employer himself.
That second limb answers the question people most often get stuck on. If the person complained against is the employer, the complaint does not go to a committee the employer constituted. It goes to the Local Committee.
Section 6(2) requires the District Officer to designate a nodal officer in every block, taluka, tehsil and ward to receive complaints and forward them to the Local Committee within seven days. Section 7 deals with the Local Committee’s composition and tenure, again capped at three years.
The three-month window — section 9
Section 9(1): a complaint must be made in writing within three months from the date of the incident, and in the case of a series of incidents, within three months from the date of the last incident.
The extension is real but conditional. A proviso allows the Committee to extend the time limit by a period not exceeding three months, but only for reasons to be recorded in writing and only if it is satisfied that the circumstances were such as prevented her from filing within the period. Both requirements have to be met.
Section 9(2) provides for a complaint by a legal heir or other prescribed person where the aggrieved woman is unable to make a complaint on account of physical or mental incapacity, death or otherwise.
Conciliation — section 10, and its one hard limit
Before initiating an inquiry, and only at the request of the aggrieved woman, the Committee may take steps to settle the matter by conciliation.
The proviso is the part to remember: no monetary settlement shall be made as a basis of conciliation. Where a settlement is arrived at and recorded, section 10(4) provides that no further inquiry shall be conducted.
Conciliation is her option, not the employer’s, and not the Committee’s default.
The inquiry — section 11 and Rule 7
Section 11(4) requires the inquiry to be completed within ninety days.
The procedure is in Rule 7 of the POSH Rules, 2013, and it is more specific than most people realise:
- The complaint is submitted in six copies with supporting documents and the names and addresses of witnesses.
- A copy goes to the respondent within seven working days.
- The respondent files a reply with supporting documents within ten working days of receiving it.
- Principles of natural justice apply throughout.
- No legal practitioner may represent any party in the proceedings before the Committee.
- The quorum is three members, including the Presiding Officer or Chairperson.
- Where a party is absent for three consecutive hearings without sufficient cause, the Committee may terminate the proceedings or proceed ex parte — after fifteen days’ written notice.
Section 11(3) gives the Committee the powers of a civil court in respect of summoning and examining persons on oath and requiring the discovery and production of documents.
Interim relief during the inquiry sits in section 12 — transfer of the aggrieved woman or the respondent, leave of up to three months in addition to her entitled leave, and such other relief as may be prescribed. Rule 8 supplements it: on her written request, the Committee may recommend restraining the respondent from reporting on her work performance or writing her confidential report, and in an educational institution, from supervising her academic activity.
The report, and what the employer must do — sections 13 and 14
The Committee’s report goes to the employer or District Officer within ten days of the inquiry being completed — section 13(1).
If the allegation is proved, the Committee recommends action, and section 13(4) requires the employer or District Officer to act upon the recommendation within sixty days of its receipt.
Section 14 deals with false or malicious complaints. One proviso matters a great deal and is frequently misquoted: a mere inability to substantiate a complaint or provide adequate proof does not attract action under this section. Malicious intent has to be established, after an inquiry. A complaint that fails is not, without more, a false complaint.
Section 16 prohibits publication of the identity of the aggrieved woman, the respondent, the witnesses, and the contents of the complaint and proceedings. Rule 12 prescribes a penalty of ₹5,000 for breach.
Appeal — section 18
Section 18(1) provides an appeal “to the court or tribunal in accordance with the provisions of the service rules applicable”, and where no service rules exist, in the prescribed manner. That prescribed route is Rule 11 — an appeal to the appellate authority notified under section 2(a) of the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946.
Section 18(2) fixes the limitation: ninety days of the recommendations.
There is no single national appellate body. Which forum applies depends on the service rules the person is governed by.
What the employer owes — sections 19 and 26
Section 19 lists ten duties. Among them: providing a safe working environment; displaying at a conspicuous place the penal consequences of sexual harassment and the section 4(1) order constituting the Internal Committee; organising workshops and awareness programmes and orientation for Committee members; providing facilities to the Internal or Local Committee; securing the attendance of the respondent and witnesses; assisting a woman who chooses to file a criminal complaint; treating sexual harassment as misconduct under the service rules; and monitoring the timely submission of reports.
Section 26 is the penalty provision. Failure to constitute an Internal Committee, or to act under sections 13, 14 or 22, is punishable with a fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees. On a subsequent conviction for the same offence, the punishment is twice that, subject to the maximum, and the licence or registration required to carry on the business may be cancelled, withdrawn or not renewed. Under section 27(3), every offence under the Act is non-cognizable.
कोटा में इसका क्या मतलब है — what this means in Kota
Kota’s economy runs on educational institutions, hostels and messes, and the definition of “workplace” reaches all of them. A few practical points, stated as what the framework provides:
- A woman need not be an employee to complain about harassment at a workplace — section 2(a) says “of any age whether employed or not”. Trainees, apprentices, contract workers and volunteers are all within section 2(f).
- Small establishments are not outside the law. A mess, a hostel office or a small firm with fewer than ten workers has no Internal Committee obligation of the usual kind, but the complaint route does not disappear: it goes to the Local Committee through the nodal officer in the block, taluka, tehsil or ward.
- A complaint against the employer goes to the Local Committee, not to a committee the employer set up.
- Students in higher educational institutions are a separate track. The UGC (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal of Sexual Harassment of Women Employees and Students in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2015 apply to higher educational institutions and require an Internal Complaints Committee under that framework. Which framework governs a given complaint depends on the institution and the complainant’s status, and that is a question to put to a qualified advocate on the actual facts. (This paragraph states the Regulations at subject level only; the individual clause numbers have not been checked against the gazette and none are cited.)
Frequently asked questions
My workplace has no Internal Committee. Where do I complain? To the Local Committee constituted by the District Officer for the district under section 6, which receives complaints where no Internal Committee exists because the establishment has fewer than ten workers, or where the complaint is against the employer. Section 6(2) requires a nodal officer in every block, taluka, tehsil and ward to receive complaints and forward them within seven days.
The incident was more than three months ago. Is it too late? Section 9(1) sets the three-month limit, running from the incident or, for a series of incidents, from the last incident. The proviso allows the Committee to extend it by a period not exceeding three months, for reasons recorded in writing, if satisfied that the circumstances prevented her from filing in time. Whether an extension is granted is for the Committee to decide on the material before it.
Can I bring a lawyer to the Committee hearing? Rule 7 of the POSH Rules 2013 provides that no legal practitioner shall represent any party in the proceedings before the Committee. Taking legal advice outside the proceedings is a different thing altogether.
What happens if the complaint is not proved? Section 14 penalises false or malicious complaints, but its first proviso is express: a mere inability to substantiate the complaint or to provide adequate proof does not attract action. Malicious intent must be established after an inquiry.
Does the employer have to do what the Committee recommends? Section 13(4) requires the employer or District Officer to act upon the recommendation within sixty days of receiving it. Section 26 makes failure to act under section 13 punishable with a fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees.
Where is the online complaint portal? The Government’s portal for complaints of workplace sexual harassment is SHe-Box, at shebox.wcd.gov.in. An upgraded version was announced by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in June 2026. Check the portal directly for the current version and features before relying on any description of it.
Disclaimer (to appear at the foot of the published post)
This is general legal awareness, not legal advice. Legal outcomes depend on facts, documents, law, forum, evidence, limitation and judicial discretion — no outcome is guaranteed. Consult a qualified advocate on your own facts.
Adv. Prakhar Gupta — enrolled with the Bar Council of Rajasthan, Enrolment No. R/2196/2020. This page shares legal awareness/education only; it is not advertisement or solicitation of work.
Parts of this content (images/voice/summary) were created or edited using AI tools.