Supreme Court Seeks Centre and BCI Response on Extending POSH Act Protections to Women Lawyers
The Supreme Court of India has initiated a crucial examination of whether women advocates should be allowed to file sexual harassment complaints before state bar councils under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act). This follows a petition challenging a Bombay High Court judgment that denied such protection on the ground that lawyers are not employees of bar councils. Background: Bombay High Court’s Controversial Interpretation On July 7, 2024 , the Bombay High Court ruled that women advocates cannot approach state bar councils with POSH complaints because: No employer–employee relationship exists between lawyers and bar councils. POSH Act mandates such a relationship to trigger its applicability. Therefore, bar councils cannot constitute a permanent POSH committee for lawyers. The ruling came in response to a petition by UNS Women Legal Association , and the judgment applied specifically to the Bar Co...