The recent decision of the Allahabad High Court in the case of Sunita Devi v. State of U.P. & Ors. provides clarity on a question that has long remained ambiguously interpreted in practice — whether findings of an Internal Committee (“IC”) under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (“POSH Act”) are merely recommendatory or binding in nature. It has been held that once the IC concludes that sexual harassment has occurr

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (“ POSH Act ”) was enacted to safeguard a woman’s fundamental right to work with dignity. While most organisations today are aware of the law, practical challenges often arise not from lack of intent to comply, but from misunderstandings around how the POSH Act operates in real and complex workplace situations. One recurring issue revolves around whether an Internal Committee (“