The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 is now over a decade old, and its weakest implementation continues to be at the Internal Committee stage. Most disputes the firm sees are not, in the end, about whether harassment occurred. They are about whether the IC was properly constituted, whether principles of natural justice were observed in the inquiry, whether the report was reasoned, and whether the employer acted on it.

The firm’s POSH practice covers the full life cycle of a workplace sexual harassment matter. We advise employers on policy drafting, IC constitution, training of presiding officers and members, annual returns under Section 21, and the disclosures required under Section 22. We act for complainants and for respondents in IC inquiries, in Local Committee proceedings, and in writ challenges to IC reports before the High Courts. Appeals under Section 18 to the appropriate Appellate Authority are handled in-house.

The advocacy side of this work has been substantial. Following the recent Supreme Court ruling on the NUJS matter, the firm filed a formal representation to the Ministry of Women and Child Development on systemic reform of the POSH framework. Dr. Pandey has delivered training workshops at universities and corporate clients, including a recent session at Manav Rachna University.

A working note on representation: the Act and the case law impose a strict duty of confidentiality and non-retaliation, and a respondent’s defence is best run quietly, on the record before the IC, rather than through parallel public statements. The firm declines mandates where the brief is to discredit the complainant publicly.