Bar council not an employer, no need for POSH panel, says HC

Bar council not an employer, no need for POSH panel, says HC 

08.07.2025

Mumbai : Bombay high court on Monday said that the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, will not apply to complaints by advocates to bar councils as there is no employer-employee relationship between them, reports Rosy Sequeira. 

Hearing a petition seeking direction to bar councils to constitute committees to address sexual harassment complaints against advocates, a bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep Marne said the POSH Act will apply to cases where there is a relationship of employer and employee, and the bar councils cannot be said to be “employer of advocates”. 

The petition also sought the implementation of the POSH Act and a committee of lawyers, NGOs and retired women judges to review and look into lacunae in the Act. ICC not applicable, P 14 Creating ICC not applicable under POSH Act The bench was hearing a petition by UNS Women Association seeking direction to the Bar Council of India and Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa to constitute a permanent grievance redressal committee of female advocates in all state bar council offices and bar associations to address sexual harassment complaints against advocates as per Supreme Court’s Oct 2012 directions in Medha Kotwal Lele’s case. 

The petition also sought the implementation of POSH Act and a committee of lawyers, NGOs, and retired female judges to review and look into lacunas in the Act. Senior advocate Milind Sathe, for BCMG, and advocate Shekhar Jagtap, for BCI, submitted that there is no employer-employee relationship between advocates and bar councils. Hence, the establishment of an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) is not applicable as per POSH Act. 

They said there is a provision for local committees headed by the district collector to receive complaints of sexual harassment for a workplace having fewer than 10 employees. However, neither ICC nor the local committees can be invoked by female advocates. Sathe said under Section 35 of the Advocates Act, 1961, there is remedy for professional and other misconduct. The judges referred to sections of the POSH Act relating to the constitution of ICC and local committees and also considered the definition of employer. In the order, they said it is evident that these provisions will apply to a case where there is a relationship of employer and employee.