Workplace Law Practice
POSH Lawyer in Bangalore for Employers, Complainants and Respondents
We build POSH Act compliance for companies, advise women on complaints and interim protection, and defend respondents in Internal Committee inquiries, appeals and writ petitions. Three constituencies, one statute, and strict confidentiality on every side.
We aim to respond within 24 hours.
- Karnataka High Court & Bengaluru forums
- Employers, complainants and respondents
- Confidential by statute and by practice
- Pro bono Fridays, by prior appointment
One statute, three very different briefs
People call a POSH lawyer in Bangalore from three different seats. Employers need the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 implemented properly: a written policy, an Internal Committee constituted under Section 4, awareness sessions and the annual reports the Act requires. Complainants need confidential advice on the remedy the Act gives them. Respondents need the inquiry against them to follow the rules it is bound by. The Act grew out of Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan (1997), where the Supreme Court held that sexual harassment at the workplace violates Articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 21 and laid down binding guidelines until Parliament legislated. We advise all three constituencies, and we keep them apart: we never act on more than one side of the same matter.
The complaint machinery is compact. Under Section 9, an aggrieved woman complains to the Internal Committee within three months of the incident, or of the last incident in a series, and the Committee can extend that by up to three further months for reasons recorded in writing. The Supreme Court now reads the window strictly: in Vaneeta Patnaik v. Nirmal Kanti Chakrabarti (2025), the litigation over a complaint against the Vice Chancellor of NUJS, a complaint filed beyond the extended period was held barred. Before any inquiry, the Committee may attempt conciliation under Section 10, only at the complainant's request and never with money as the basis of settlement. The inquiry itself must finish within ninety days under Section 11(4), and interim protection under Section 12, including transfer or up to three months of additional leave, is available while it runs. Our guides on the POSH complaint procedure and the Section 9 time limit walk through each stage.
The Act protects the fairness of the inquiry as much as its speed. The respondent must receive the complaint within seven working days and has ten working days to reply with documents and a list of witnesses under Rule 7 of the 2013 Rules, and the Committee must observe the principles of natural justice: a quorum of three, disclosure of what is relied on, and a real opportunity to answer it. In Aureliano Fernandes v. State of Goa (2023) the Supreme Court set aside an inquiry conducted in haste without hearing the respondent and sent it back to be done again. A party aggrieved by the report has ninety days to appeal under Section 18, and writ jurisdiction before the Karnataka High Court remains for inquiries that disregarded the statute; our guide on challenging an ICC report explains when each route fits. Through all of it, Section 16 makes confidentiality a legal command, not a courtesy: the complaint, the identities and the proceedings cannot be published or disclosed.
The law at a glance
2013
The Act, built on Vishaka
Parliament enacted the POSH Act in 2013 on the foundation of Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan (1997), where the Supreme Court held workplace sexual harassment violates Articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 21 and laid down binding guidelines until legislation came.
90 days
Inquiry completion under S.11(4)
The Internal Committee must complete its inquiry within ninety days. The report follows within ten days of completion, and the employer must act on the recommendations within sixty days of receiving it.
3+3 mo
Complaint window under S.9
Three months from the incident, or from the last incident in a series, extendable by up to three further months for reasons recorded in writing. The Supreme Court applied the outer limit strictly in 2025.
10
Workers that make an ICC mandatory
Every workplace with ten or more workers must constitute an Internal Committee under S.4. Establishments below ten, and complaints against the employer himself, go to the district Local Committee under S.6.
Periods are the statutory ones; practical timelines vary with the Committee and the forum. Every matter differs.
What we handle
POSH work for all three constituencies
Six kinds of work make up this practice, across the employer, complainant and respondent sides. Where a card links out, it opens our detailed guide on that subject.
POSH Compliance for Employers
Policy drafting, employee awareness sessions under S.19, and the annual reports under S.21 and S.22, run as a standing compliance calendar rather than a one-time file.
ICC Constitution & External Member
Committees constituted as S.4 requires: a senior woman Presiding Officer, at least half women members and the mandatory external member, a role we also hold for organisations.
Defence of Respondents
The reply under Rule 7(3) with documents and witnesses, preparation for the hearing, and insistence on the natural justice the Rules and the Supreme Court require.
The framework
The law a POSH matter turns on
Three instruments decide these matters: the Act that creates the Committee and the remedy, the Rules that script the inquiry, and the criminal code that runs on a separate track.
Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013
- S.4
- S.9
- S.10
- S.11(4)
- S.12
- S.13
- S.18
- S.21
- S.26
The complete code: Internal Committee constitution, the three plus three month complaint window, conciliation, the ninety day inquiry, interim reliefs, reports and employer action, appeals, annual reporting, and penalties up to Rs 50,000 with licence consequences on repeat default.
Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Rules, 2013
- R.7(2)
- R.7(3)
- R.7(4)
- R.7(6)
- R.7(7)
- R.11
The inquiry manual: complaint copy to the respondent within seven working days, reply with documents and a witness list within ten, natural justice throughout, a quorum of three, no legal practitioner inside the inquiry, and the appellate route where no service rules exist.
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
- S.74
- S.75
- S.76
- S.77
- S.78
- S.79
The criminal parallel, replacing Ss.354, 354A to 354D and 509 of the IPC. A police case under these provisions is independent of the ICC route, and the two can run at the same time.
How a matter moves
From complaint to report, on statutory clocks
The POSH process is one of the most tightly timetabled in Indian law. Knowing which clock is running, and against whom, is half the strategy.
- 1
Confidential assessment & position mapping
Week 1Whichever seat you occupy, we map the matter against the Act: whether the workplace needed an ICC and has one properly constituted, whether the complaint sits inside the S.9 window, what the Rules require next, and what your immediate rights are. Everything stays within the confidentiality S.16 imposes.
- 2
Pleadings before the Committee
7-10 working daysThe Rules run on short clocks. The Committee sends the complaint to the respondent within seven working days, and the reply with documents and the list of witnesses is due within ten. We draft complaints, replies, conciliation requests and interim relief applications to those timelines.
- 3
Inquiry, evidence & hearings
Within 90 daysS.11(4) requires the inquiry to close within ninety days. Rule 7(4) holds the Committee to the principles of natural justice: notice of hearings, a quorum of three including the Presiding Officer, disclosure of what is relied on, and a genuine opportunity to answer it.
- 4
Report, employer action & challenge
10 + 60 daysThe report goes to the employer within ten days of the inquiry closing, and the employer must act on the recommendations within sixty. A party aggrieved by the findings has ninety days to appeal under S.18, and writ jurisdiction remains for inquiries that broke the rules.
Statutory periods are as enacted. Actual movement depends on the Committee, the employer and the forum, and the figures are indicative.
Choosing a route
ICC inquiry versus criminal complaint
The Act's inquiry and the criminal law are separate tracks with different forums, standards, outcomes and timelines. Understanding the difference is the first decision in most POSH matters, on every side.
| ICC inquiry under the POSH Act | Criminal complaint under the BNS | |
|---|---|---|
| Forum | Internal Committee at the workplace; the district Local Committee where there is no ICC or the employer himself is accused | Jurisdictional police station and the criminal courts in Bengaluru |
| Governing law | POSH Act, 2013 and the POSH Rules, 2013 | Ss.74 to 79, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (old Ss.354, 354A to 354D and 509 IPC) |
| Standard | The civil standard used in domestic inquiries, applied on the inquiry record and tested against natural justice under Rule 7(4) | Proof beyond reasonable doubt, after police investigation and trial |
| Outcome | Recommendations the employer must implement within sixty days, including action for misconduct under the service rules | Punishment on conviction, imprisonment or fine as the section provides; no workplace remedy |
| Timeline | Ninety days for the inquiry, ten for the report, sixty for employer action, ninety to appeal under S.18 | Investigation and trial move on court timescales, commonly measured in years; indicative only |
| Confidentiality | S.16 bars publication of the complaint, the identities and the proceedings; S.17 penalises breach | An FIR and trial sit on the public record of the criminal courts |
The tracks are independent. Starting one does not bar the other, and neither substitutes for the other's remedy.
Where you might be right now
Situations we advise on every month
Ten or more employees and no ICC yet?
The Committee is mandatory, and default is punishable with fine up to Rs 50,000 under S.26, doubled on repetition with licence consequences. We constitute the Committee, draft the policy and set the annual compliance calendar.
Need an external member for your Committee?
S.4 requires one member from outside the organisation, drawn from those committed to the cause of women or familiar with the issues the Act addresses. We serve as external member and train Committees to run Rule 7 inquiries that survive scrutiny.
Considering a complaint to the ICC?
The window is three months from the incident, or the last in a series, extendable by three more for recorded reasons. We advise in strict confidence on the window, the drafting, conciliation under S.10 and interim protection under S.12.
Named as respondent in an inquiry?
You are entitled to the complaint copy, ten working days to reply with documents and witnesses, a Committee that sits with quorum, and an inquiry that follows natural justice. We prepare the defence within those rules, discreetly.
The Committee's report is against you?
Whichever side you are, S.18 allows an appeal within ninety days, and an inquiry that disregarded the Rules or the standard in Aureliano Fernandes can be tested in writ jurisdiction before the Karnataka High Court. The clocks are short.
Dispute over whether the complaint is in time?
Limitation under S.9 has been applied strictly since the Supreme Court's 2025 ruling in the NUJS litigation. We advise complainants on extension requests with recorded reasons, and respondents on limitation objections, from the same doctrine.
Fees, honestly
How we charge, and a note on confidentiality
POSH work is unusual in one respect: on every side of it, the client's first concern is who will come to know. Section 16 of the Act makes the proceedings confidential by force of law, and our engagement adds advocate-client privilege on top of it. Fees are set out in writing before work begins, structured as follows.
- Employer compliance is quoted as a fixed annual engagement: policy, Committee constitution, awareness sessions and the S.21 and S.22 annual reports, one figure for the year.
- External member work is billed per sitting or per quarter, recorded in the engagement letter before the first meeting of the Committee.
- For complainants and respondents, fees are staged: confidential assessment, pleadings before the Committee, the inquiry, and any S.18 appeal or writ petition are separate stages with separate figures.
- No outcome is promised to anyone. An inquiry turns on its record; what we commit to is preparation inside the timelines the Act sets, and total confidentiality throughout.
Speak to a POSH lawyer in Bangalore, in confidence
Employer, complainant or respondent: this statute runs on short clocks, so write in early and the conversation stays privileged. Friday is our pro bono day: send the question in first and we confirm a slot as availability allows.
Every enquiry is privileged and confidential. Nothing you share leaves this firm.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my company in Bangalore need an Internal Committee?+−
Yes, if you have ten or more workers. Section 4 of the POSH Act, 2013 requires every such workplace to constitute an Internal Committee by a written order, at every office or unit. Establishments with fewer than ten workers, and complaints against the employer himself, go instead to the Local Committee constituted by the District Officer under Section 6. Failing to constitute an ICC is punishable with fine up to Rs 50,000 under Section 26, with doubled punishment and licence consequences on repetition.
Who must be on the Internal Committee under Section 4?+−
A Presiding Officer who is a woman employed at a senior level in the workplace, at least two members from among employees, preferably with experience in social work or legal knowledge, and one external member from an NGO or association committed to the cause of women or a person familiar with sexual harassment issues. At least half the members must be women, and the minimum strength is four. A defectively constituted Committee puts the whole inquiry at risk.
What is the time limit for filing a POSH complaint?+−
Three months from the date of the incident, or of the last incident in a series, under Section 9. The Committee can extend this by up to three further months if satisfied that circumstances prevented filing, recording its reasons in writing. The Supreme Court applied the window strictly in the 2025 NUJS litigation, Vaneeta Patnaik v. Nirmal Kanti Chakrabarti, holding a complaint filed beyond the extended period barred. Criminal remedies under the BNS carry their own separate limitation.
What interim protection is available while the inquiry runs?+−
Under Section 12, at the complainant's request the Committee can recommend transferring her or the respondent to another workplace, granting her leave of up to three months in addition to her normal entitlement, or other prescribed relief, and the employer implements the recommendation. These are protective measures while the ninety day inquiry is pending, not findings against the respondent.
What is conciliation under Section 10?+−
Before the inquiry begins, and only if the aggrieved woman requests it, the Committee may attempt to settle the matter between the parties through conciliation. The one hard statutory rule is that no monetary settlement can be made the basis of the conciliation. If a settlement is recorded, the inquiry does not proceed; if its terms are not honoured, the complainant can go back to the Committee and pursue the inquiry.