New Delhi:- In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court today dismissed a petition seeking to bring political parties under the ambit of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. The court said that bringing political parties under the ambit of this law would be like opening a ‘Pandora’s box’ (which creates many complex problems). The court said that it can become a weapon of blackmail.
A bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justices K. Vinod Chandran and Atul S. Chandurkar said that applying the POSH Act to political parties would open a Pandora’s box and it would become a tool of blackmail and abuse.
The court said, ‘You cannot associate political parties with the workplace. When a person joins a political party, it does not provide employment. This is not a job because those individuals join political parties voluntarily and on an unpaid basis. Hence, these rules cannot be applied here. The Supreme Court also upheld the decision of the Kerala High Court in the year 2022 in this regard.