The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea seeking to bring political parties within the ambit of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act), holding that parties cannot be treated as “workplaces” and their members are not “employees.”
A bench led by Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai, along with Justices K. Vinod Chandran and N.V. Anjaria, dismissed the petition, observing that adopting such an expansive interpretation would open a “Pandora’s box.” The bench noted, “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 special leave petition, filed by advocate Yogamaya M.G. through advocate-on-record Sriram P., challenged a 2022 Kerala High Court ruling which had held that political parties were under no obligation to constitute Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs) since their members do not fall within the definition of employees.
Senior advocate Shobha Gupta, appearing for the petitioner, argued that the POSH Act makes no exception for any entity, public or private, and excluding political parties from its ambit leaves women workers in politics unprotected. The petition highlighted that women volunteers, campaigners, interns, and grassroots activists often operate in vulnerable environments without any grievance redressal mechanism.
The plea contended that such exclusion was arbitrary, discriminatory, and violative of Articles 14, 15, 19, and 21 of the Constitution. It urged the court to declare political parties as “employers” under Section 2(g) of the POSH Act, thereby mandating ICCs.
The petition named major national parties, including BJP, Congress, AAP, CPI(M), CPI, NCP, AITC, BSP, NPP, and AIPC, along with the Union of India and the Election Commission, as respondents. It also flagged inconsistencies in the current system, noting that while CPI(M) has set up ICCs with external members, AAP’s structure remains opaque, and BJP and Congress handle complaints through disciplinary committees rather than statutory ICCs.
Despite these submissions, the apex court upheld the Kerala High Court’s view, making it clear that political parties cannot be equated with workplaces. With this, women political workers will have to rely on internal party mechanisms rather than statutory protections under the POSH Act.
