New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday (December 3) ordered that internal complaints committees (ICCS) have to be constituted for all government departments and public sector undertakings.
The directions were issued by a division bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh to ensure effective implementation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, reported The Economic Times.
The court also ordered that “SheBox” portals be created in all government departments and public sector undertakings where women will be able to lodge their complaints.
Last year, the Supreme Court had said that serious lapses remained in the effective enforcement of the POSH Act. The court on Tuesday said that the Act’s provisions must be uniformly implemented across states and union territories.
The directions passed by the bench include all states/UTs being required to appoint a district officer in each district by December 31. The district officer should constitute a local complaints committee (LCC) by January 31, 2025.
Nodal officers have to be appointed at taluka levels and details of nodal officers, LCCs, and internal complaints committees (ICCs) on the SheBox portal.
Deputy commissioners/district magistrates are to survey organisations for ICC compliance under Section 26 of the POSH Act and submit compliance reports and states/UTs will have to create localised SheBox portals wherever absent. The complaints received on SheBox are to be directed to respective ICCs or LCCs and ensure ICC constitution in all government departments and PSUs.
The court granted time till March 31, 2025, for the compliance of its directions, with chief secretaries being required to oversee the execution of the directions.
