When an Internal Committee (“IC”) rejects a sexual harassment complaint, at the threshold, on the ground that it does not contain a “sexual element”, can that decision be challenged under Section 18 of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (“POSH Act”), even though no inquiry was conducted? The Bombay High Court, in the case of Anup Vikal v. State of Maharashtra & Ors., has clarified that such a threshold decision is n

In the recent case of Ashima Sanjeev Minocha v. Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Limited & Anr., the Gujarat High Court considered the scope of judicial review of an Internal Complaints Committee (“IC”) decision under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (“POSH Act”). The petitioner had challenged the IC’s final report rejecting her complaint, alleging, among other things, flaws in the constitution and f

On 25 March 2026, the Supreme Court dismissed a batch of special leave petitions filed by two of the three promoters of Financial Software and Systems Private Limited ("FSSPL"), Nagaraj Mylandla and Sharada Mylandla, and affirmed the enforceability of the decree entered against them by the Madras High Court in terms of a Singapore-seated arbitral award. The Madras High Court had described the liability as exceeding INR 1,400 crores: damages measured at a contractual "exit p

The National Commission for Women (“NCW”) has issued an advisory on 19 June 2026 recommending significant measures to strengthen the implementation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 ("POSH Act"). The advisory sends a clear message: POSH compliance is no longer just about constituting an Internal Committee — it is about demonstrating that your compliance framework actually works. What's New? 1. Mandatory Annu

1. Background Securities and Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”) issued an Informal Guidance Note[1] on 2 March 2026, confirming that a ‘cousin’ of a promoter group member does not fall within the definition of a 'relative' under the Companies Act, 2013 (“Act”). As a result, a cousin of a promoter group member is not automatically disqualified from being appointed as an Independent Director ("ID") on the board of a listed company. This article examines the basis for that clari