Public Guidance · Workplace Law · POSH Act, 2013

The POSH Complaint and the IC Inquiry — What Fairness Requires, on Both Sides

Last updated: 31 July 2026 · Reflects the BNS/BNSS, 2023 · By Advocate Manish Sharma, Faridabad · General legal information, not legal advice

In short: Under the POSH Act, 2013, any aggrieved woman — of any age, whether or not an employee of that workplace — can complain of workplace sexual harassment to the employer’s Internal Committee (IC), ordinarily within three months of the incident (extendable by three more for recorded reasons). The IC must complete its inquiry within ninety days, following the principles of natural justice — both sides heard, evidence disclosed, no ex-parte shortcuts — a standard the Supreme Court enforced emphatically in Aureliano Fernandes v. State of Goa (2023), setting aside an inquiry that had steamrolled the respondent and issuing nationwide compliance directions. The Act protects the complainant with interim reliefs and strict confidentiality, and protects the respondent with the right to the complaint’s copy, to respond, and to appeal — because a finding either way is only as strong as the fairness of the process that produced it.

Who can complain — and by when?

The POSH Act — the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 — is a workplace-specific statute that creates its own complaint forum, its own inquiry procedure, and its own reliefs, running independently of the criminal law. Its definition of an aggrieved woman is deliberately wide: an employee, a contract or domestic worker, an intern, a visitor — any woman subjected to sexual harassment in relation to a workplace. The complaint goes in writing to the IC (or the district Local Committee where the employer has fewer than ten workers, or where the complaint is against the employer himself), ordinarily within three months of the last incident, with the IC empowered to extend by a further three months for reasons recorded. Where the woman cannot complain herself, the Rules allow specified persons to do so on her behalf.

What the Internal Committee must look like

A lawfully constituted IC is the foundation of everything that follows: a woman presiding officer employed at a senior level, at least half the members women, and one external member from an NGO or a person familiar with sexual-harassment issues. An inquiry by a defectively constituted committee is vulnerable from its first sitting — a point either side may end up making, and one an employer should never have to concede.

How a fair inquiry runs — the Aureliano Fernandes standard

The IC has civil-court powers for summoning and evidence, must give both parties the opportunity of being heard, and must complete the inquiry within ninety days, with the employer acting on the report within sixty. In Aureliano Fernandes v. State of Goa (Supreme Court, 12 May 2023), an inquiry that had denied the respondent a real opportunity to participate was set aside for violating natural justice, and the Court — recording serious lapses in POSH enforcement across the country — issued directions for the constitution and functioning of committees nationwide. The judgment is the operative benchmark: speed cannot come at the cost of hearing, and hearing cannot become delay.

The complainant’s protections

During the inquiry the complainant can seek interim reliefs — transfer of either party, leave to the aggrieved woman beyond her entitlement, or restraining the respondent from supervising her work. Section 16 makes the entire proceeding confidential, with penalties for breach. Conciliation is available only at the complainant’s request and never on monetary terms as the basis of settlement. Where the IC route itself is compromised — no committee exists, or the complaint is against the top of the organisation — the district Local Committee and, in appropriate cases, the criminal law (the BNS’s provisions on sexual harassment and outraging modesty) run as independent tracks.

The respondent’s rights — and the malicious-complaint provision, honestly read

The person complained against is entitled to a copy of the complaint and supporting material, a genuine opportunity to respond and to have witnesses examined, and an appeal against the IC’s recommendations before the appellate forum within ninety days. Section 14 penalises malicious complaints — but the section itself insists, and courts repeat, that a complaint that merely could not be proved is not malicious; malice must be established in its own inquiry. That balance is deliberate: it protects honest complainants from intimidation while giving a falsely accused respondent a real remedy.

When the inquiry has gone wrong — either side’s next step

An inquiry conducted by a defective committee, without disclosure, or ex-parte can be challenged — through the statutory appeal, and in appropriate cases by writ. Equally, an employer who ignores the IC’s recommendations, or an IC that sits on a complaint past its timelines, can be pushed through the same routes and the district officer. What both sides need before choosing a route is the same thing: the record — the complaint, the notices, the minutes, the report. In POSH matters, the paper decides.

Frequently asked questions

POSH complaint kaise aur kitne time me karni hoti hai?

Likhit complaint Internal Committee ko, aam taur par ghatna ke 3 mahine ke andar (IC recorded reasons par 3 mahine aur badha sakti hai). Jahan employer ke paas 10 se kam workers hon, ya complaint employer ke hi khilaf ho, wahan district Local Committee ka raasta hai.

Who can file a POSH complaint?

Any aggrieved woman in relation to the workplace — employee or not, of any age: contract staff, interns, domestic workers and visitors included. Where she is unable to complain herself, the Rules permit specified persons to complain on her behalf.

Kya IC ke faisle ke khilaf appeal ho sakti hai?

Haan — IC ki recommendations ke khilaf 90 din ke andar appellate forum me appeal ka adhikar dono paksh ko hai. Defective committee, bina-disclosure ya ex-parte inquiry ko appeal aur uchit cases me writ ke zariye challenge kiya ja sakta hai — Supreme Court ne Aureliano Fernandes (2023) me aisi hi inquiry radd ki thi.

Complaint sabit nahi hui to kya wo malicious maani jayegi?

Nahi — Section 14 khud kehta hai ki sirf sabit na kar paana malicious nahi hai; malice alag se sabit karni padti hai. Ye santulan jaan-bujh kar rakha gaya hai: imaandaar complainant ko daraya na ja sake, aur jhooth ka shikaar respondent ke paas asli upaay rahe.

What interim protection can a complainant get during the inquiry?

Transfer of either party, additional leave to the aggrieved woman, or restraining the respondent from supervising her work — recommended by the IC and binding on the employer to implement. The entire proceeding is confidential under Section 16, with penalties for breach.