In compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court dated December 3, 2024, all States and Union Territories (UT) have submitted affidavits confirming the steps taken under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act). These submissions follow several directions of a bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma.
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According to the latest status report submitted by amicus curiae Padmapriya, the states have complied with the direction for appointment of district officers.
“The Chief Secretary of each State shall take steps to identify and notify an officer as the District Officer for each district on or before 31.12.2024, if not already done.”
The Court further directed that States and Union Territories should verify the list of District Officers, which shall be shared with NALSA for publication on its website. Additionally, States and Union Territories also publish the list on the website of the Department of Women and Child Development.
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Most States have fulfilled the requirement of constitution of Local Complaints Committees. However, compliance is not evident by Delhi, Haryana (except Jind, Karnal and Nuh districts), Jharkhand (except two districts) and Kerala.
“The District Officer shall constitute the Local Committee where such Committees have not yet been constituted or such Committees already constituted are to be reconstituted on or before 31.01.2025.”
The court directed these states to file additional affidavits explaining their compliance with the LCC formation requirements.
Several states and Union Territories, including Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, have conducted surveys looking at private institutions. However, states such as Bihar, Manipur and Uttarakhand have focused primarily on government institutions. The court noted that some states have not provided complete district-level survey data despite repeated directions.
“The Chief Secretaries of the States/Union Territories shall ensure that the Internal Committee is constituted or reconstituted by 31.01.2025 in respect of their government departments, entities, public sector units and other entities under their control in accordance with Section 4 of the 2013 Act.”
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“Similarly, the Union of India/Central Government shall take steps to constitute or reconstitute the Internal Committee in respect of any workplace where the same has not been done on or before 31.01.2025.”
Most states have appointed nodal officers under Section 6(2) of the POSH Act. However, there is confusion as to whether the officers have been appointed under the POSH Act or for the Central Government’s SheBox portal, as the latter does not have statutory backing. This confusion applies to Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.
The hearing of the case has been adjourned till August 12, 2025 to provide additional time to the states and Union Territories that have not yet complied with the Court’s directions.
Case Details: AURELIANO FERNANDES v. THE STATE OF GOA AND ORS.,|Diary No. 22553-2023
