FAQ On Legal Matters
‘The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibiton and Redressal)
Act, 2013 (‘POSH act’), defines sexual harassment. According to section 2(n),
“Sexual Harassment” includes any one or more of the following unwelcome acts or behavior
(whether directly or by implication) namely:—
(i) physical contact and advances; or
(ii) a demand or request for sexual favours; or
(iii) making sexually coloured remarks; or
(iv) showing pornography; or
(v) any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature;
Sexually coloured remarks and actions may be considered sexual harassment. Broadly,
some examples include:
Verbal behavior which is sexual in nature and unwelcome, e.g., epithets, jokes, comments or
slurs, repeated requests for dates which are unwelcome.
Nonverbal behavior which is sexual in nature and unwelcome, e.g., staring, leering, lewd
gestures.
Physical conduct which is sexual in nature and unwelcome, e.g., assaults, sexual advances
such as touching, patting, or pinching, impeding or blocking, movement or any physical
interference with normal work or movement;
Visuals which are sexual in nature and unwelcome, e.g., posters or signs, letters, poems, graffiti, faxes, cartoons or drawings, pictures, calendars, electronic mail and computer programs.
No, physical contact is not necessary for an action to account for sexual harassment.
In the case of Apparel Export Promotion v. A.K. Chopra, the Supreme Court enlarged the
definition of sexual harassment by ruling that physical contact was not necessary for an act to
amount to sexual harassment
Therefore, the Supreme Court explained that:-
‘Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination projected through unwelcome sexual advances, request for sexual favours and other verbal or physical conduct with sexual overtones, whether directly or by implication, particularly when submission to or rejection of such conduct by the female employee was capable of being used for affecting the employment of the female employee and unreasonably interfering with her work performance and had the effect of creating
an intimidating or hostile work environment for her.’
Yes, the law protects women from sexual harassment in the workplace. This is encapculated within‘The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibiton and Redressal)
Act, 2013, also known as the ‘POSH Act’.
India’s first legislation specifically addressing the issue of workplace sexual harassment; the
Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (“POSH Act”) was enacted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, India in 2013.
The year 2013 also witnessed the promulgation of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act,
2013 (“Criminal Law Amendment Act”) which has criminalized offences such as sexual
harassment, stalking and voyeurism.
The Act provides a civil remedy to women. Consequently, any woman who wishes to report
instances of sexual harassment at the workplacehas the right to take recourse of both civil and criminal proceedings.
It is important for you to know that:
- Workplace sexual harassment is a form of gender discrimination which violates the
following fundamental rights of a woman: - Articles 14 and 15: Right to Equality
- Article 21: Right to life – the right to live with dignity
- Article 19(1)(g): Right to practice any profession/trade/occupation/business, i.e., a right to a safe environment free from harassment.
An aggrieved woman can file a complaint with the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of the organisation. In case of an organisation with less than 10 members, a Local Complaints Committee (LCC) must be established, to which the woman can submit her complaint.
One may also file their complaint under the SH-e Box initiative of the Ministry of Women
& Child Development. This Sexual Harassment electronic Box (SHe-Box) is an effort of GoI to provide a single window access to every woman, irrespective of her work status, whether working in organised or unorganised, private or public sector, to facilitate the registration of complaint related to sexual harassment. The initiative is driven by a strong support to women so as to provide them with adequate resources.
According to the POSH act, any aggrieved woman may make, in writing, a complaint of sexual harassment at workplace to the Internal Committee if so constituted, or the Local Committee, in case it is not so constituted, within a period of three months from the date of incident and in case of a series of incidents, within a period of three months from the date of last incident.
A written complaint must contain:-
- Description of each incident(s)
- Name of the Respondent/Offender
- Dates of each incident(s)
- Timings
- Locations
- Working relationship between the Parties
According to the POSH Act, any woman who is working in or visiting a workplace for the purpose of employment can file a complaint. She can be working as a permanent, temporary or adhoc employee or on daily-wages, voluntary or contract basis. A visitor, probationer, trainee, apprentice and intern are also entitled to file a complaint.
FAQ On Civil Law
All of these civil matters are resolved at the Karm Legal & Associates, just as they are at the offices of the vast majority of civil lawyers in India, by adhering to the legal procedures in an appropriate manner in order to ensure that the victim receives the highest possible level of satisfaction.
The following is a list of some of the civil litigation services provided by our civil lawyer:
- Property Litigation Matters
- Consumer Protection Law
- Contractual Dispute Litigation
- Unknown Transaction Matters (Benami transaction)
- Easements Litigation Matters
- Land Acquisition Litigation
- Matters related to Foreign Act
- Societies and Co-Operative Societies Matters
- Successions and Trusts Matters
The litigation that does not include criminal offences falls within the purview of the civil law subfield of the legal system. The process by which civil matters are resolved in any court of law in India is known as civil litigation. This process is intended to solve issues concerning civil matters, which include things like marriage, divorce, and disagreements over contracts, amongst other things. In India, any court of law can hear civil litigation cases. In these cases involving civil litigation, the petition has to be filed in Delhi by a civil lawyer. In India, this legislation is intended to defend the rights of Indian people in accordance with the Indian court system, and it has been serving Indian inhabitants in a satisfactory way up until this point. Civil law may be separated into two components that are known as substantive law and procedural law.
FAQ On Common Legal Issues
Services of an advocate or a law firm, both are same. But there are a few advantages that a law firm can offer you over an advocate. A firm is the product of several attorneys pooling their resources and talents together to serve you. This gives the firm a broader base of expertise and resources. More ever a firm is always available, focus and dedicated at your work.
Confidentiality is key for our lawyers. We operate with the strictest standards of confidentiality, and are in full accordance with the ethical standards of privacy mandated by thecourts of India.
We are licensed to practice in the Courts of India. Our offices are located in New Delhi, Gurugram, Chandigarh, Hisar and Dehradun. However, if you are out of these places, or outside India, we can help you by providing our services to you online, phone calls, email and skype. In matters involving significant transactions or complexity, we are also willing to fly our lawyers out to work on-site.
You are entitled to know, to the extent that we can reasonably inform you at your first visit, what your fee will be. We encourage a frank, open discussion about our fees with each client at the time of the first interview.
Yes. We can get you in touch with the right resources to get aid for your case.
We also take a certain portion of our cases on a pro-bono basis, to serve the underprivileged and give back to the community. There are also certain fee deferment and reduction arrangements we can enter into depending on the circumstances of your case.
We are always dedicated to responding to all our client’s queries and doubts and we encourage our clients to ask questions. Most times we are required to be out of the office and in the courts. In the office, we meet our clients, review documents, or prepare briefs or pleadings for court and other documentation. For the quickest and efficient responses, call the associate lawyer from our firm who is the point of contact for your case. Our associate lawyers are proficient in keeping clients updated and can assist you with most of your queries. You can also call the numbers provided on our website or email us at office@karmlegal.com with any questions in regards to your case. We also welcome our clients to schedule meetings with us when required.
You will not necessarily have to appear before the civil courts or Tribunals. You may be allowed to view your hearings before a particular judge. If your case does require you to answer questions before a judge or be a witness in your own case, as your lawyers, we will train and guide you through the process to ensure that your presentation in court will lead to the best possible outcome for your case. In criminal cases, in the event that you have been added as an accused person, you may have to appear in person before court. The lawyer assigned to your case will accompany you at this time and guide you through the appearance process.
The time taken for a case can depend greatly on the unique facts of each case and the process of the forum before which the client is seeking relief. Many factors are not within a lawyers control and depend on the court’s schedule and judge’s availability, court and public holidays and the opposing parties availability and willingness to cooperate. Multiple changes during a legal proceeding can contribute to speeding up or delaying the finishing of a case. Sometimes cases can be settled as quickly or could may take extended periods depending on how complex the facts and circumstances of a case are. We ensure that we meet all deadlines so that a speedy process on our client’s behalf is possible.
As a firm policy, we try to address all our client queries as soon as possible in order for a smooth flow of cases. We ensure that any milestones achieved or any significant progresses in cases are informed to the clients without delay. We request our clients also respond to our emails or phone calls for more information in a timely manner because this helps us serve our clients better. If we do not receive instructions or documentation from our client on certain specific actions in a
matter, we would be unable to continue with the legal services that we are providing.
All clients ask this question at their very first consultation. It is difficult to have a direct answer to this question because it largely depends on the specific facts of your case. The strength of your case is based on the evidence and other available documentation. Each client’s case is different. We do not guarantee a particular outcome, however we can tell you what the probable outcome could be, given our experience and the facts unique to your case. Please call our firm to discuss your case with one of our lawyers or write to us for a first free consultation.