The Bombay High Court has ruled that the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act) does not apply to complaints by advocates against other advocates to bar councils, as there is no employer-employee relationship between them.

The ruling came on Monday, July 7, 2025, during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in 2017 by the UNS Women Legal Association. The PIL sought the establishment of permanent Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs) within the Bar Council of India (BCI) and the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa (BCMG) to address sexual harassment complaints against advocates.

A division bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Sandeep Marne stated that the POSH Act applies only where an employer-employee relationship exists. The court held that bar councils cannot be considered employers of advocates. Therefore, the provisions related to the formation of ICCs are not applicable to advocates.

The court clarified that the POSH Act would still apply to employees of the BCI and BCMG. Senior advocate Milind Sathe, representing BCMG, and advocate Shekhar Jagtap, for BCI, submitted that both councils have constituted ICCs to address the grievances of their employees.

The bench also noted that women advocates are not without legal recourse if they face sexual harassment from other advocates. They can file a complaint under Section 35 of the Advocates Act, 1961, which provides a remedy for professional and other misconduct. Senior advocate Milind Sathe stated that this section allows any person, including a woman advocate, to lodge a complaint before the state bar council for misconduct, including acts of sexual harassment.

The court also pointed out that local committees headed by the district collector are already in place across all districts to receive complaints of sexual harassment for workplaces with fewer than 10 employees.

The High Court emphasized that the primary consideration for the applicability of the POSH Act is the existence of an employer-employee relationship. Since advocates are not employees of the Bar Councils, the provisions of the POSH Act do not apply to them. However, the court reiterated that the Act remains applicable to the employees of the BCI and BCMG.