Top court junks plea to bring political parties under PoSH

The Supreme Court Friday refused to entertain a plea seeking to bring political parties under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai said the issue would fall "only in the domain of the parliament". The bench refused to entertain the plea. Eventually, the petitioner was given the liberty to withdraw his plea.

The petitioner, Supreme Court advocate Yogamaya MG, had moved the court highlighting non-compliance with the PoSH Act by political parties, particularly when it comes to constitution of internal complaints committee (ICC) to deal with sexual harassment complaints.


The petitioner sought that the definitions of "workplace" and "employer" under the PoSH Act be harmoniously interpreted to make the Act applicable to political parties. The petitioner had earlier also approached the apex court over the same issue. However, the court had then asked the petitioner to first approach the Election Commission of India (ECI).