Workplace Sexual Harassment Complaint Under the POSH Act in Gurgaon

Gurgaon's dense concentration of corporate offices means POSH Act complaints come up constantly, and the process is meant to run largely inside the company itself — through an Internal Committee, on a set timeline — before it ever needs to touch a court. Knowing how that internal process is actually supposed to work is useful whether you're filing a complaint or responding to one.

The Internal Committee process

Every employer with 10 or more employees is legally required to have an Internal Committee (IC) to handle complaints. A written complaint must ordinarily be filed within three months of the incident, extendable by the IC in appropriate cases. The IC is required to complete its inquiry within 90 days and submit its report within 10 days after that — timelines that exist precisely because these matters tend to drag on indefinitely without them.

What the inquiry actually looks like

Both the complainant and the respondent are entitled to be heard, and either can be accompanied by a support person. The IC can recommend interim measures during the inquiry itself — such as a transfer or leave for the complainant — separate from whatever the final outcome turns out to be.

If there's no Internal Committee, or the complaint isn't handled properly

A complaint can be escalated to the Local Committee constituted at the district level where an employer has fewer than 10 employees, or where the complaint is against the employer themselves. Failure to constitute an IC at all is a penalty offence for the employer.

Where this can escalate to criminal law

A POSH complaint runs on its own internal track, but the same facts can separately support a criminal complaint under general crimes against women provisions, depending on what actually happened. The two aren't mutually exclusive, and pursuing one doesn't use up the option of the other.

For someone responding to a complaint

Being named in a POSH complaint carries real professional consequences even before any finding is made, and the response given to the IC — in writing and in the hearing — matters considerably for how the case concludes. Legal guidance at this stage, on either side, is usually worth having rather than going through the IC process alone.

Read more on related matters on the crime against women lawyer page.