New Delhi: A political party is not a ‘workplace’, hence it can’t be brought under the purview of the law on prevention of sexual harassment (POSH).
Declining a petition seeking to extend the POSH Act to political parties, the Supreme Court on Monday said that parties cannot be treated as “workplaces” and their members are not “employees.”
Adopting such an expansive view will open a ‘Pandora’s box,’ said a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai, Justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria.
“How do you declare a political party a workplace? Is there any employment there? When you join a political party, you do not get a job. There is no payment for your work,” the bench said.
The top court was hearing a special leave petition filed by advocate Yogamaya MG, challenging a 2022 Kerala High Court judgment, which had ruled that political parties were under no obligation to constitute Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs) as required under Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act).
The petitioner’s counsel advocate Shobha Gupta argued that the POSH Act made no exception for any entity, public or private, and that excluding political parties from its ambit left female workers in politics unprotected.
Such exclusion is arbitrary, discriminatory and violative of Articles 14, 15, 19, and 21 of the Indian Constitution, the petitioner contended. Female political workers, including volunteers, campaigners, interns and grassroots activists, function in highly vulnerable environments without any formal grievance redressal mechanism, the petition stated.
“The arbitrary denial of these protections defeats the very object of the law,” the petitioner claimed.
Naming BJP, Congress, AAP, CPI(M), CPI, NCP, Trinamool Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, National People’s Party, All India Professionals’ Congress, the Union of India and Election Commission of India as respondents, the petition sought declaration of political parties as ‘employers’ under Section 2(g) of the POSH Act, thereby making it mandatory for them to set up ICCs.
However, the Supreme Court said categorically that political parties cannot be equated with workplaces. Observing that membership does not create an employer-employee relationship, the CJI-led three-member bench refused to interfere, and left Kerala High Court’s ruling intact.