PoSH Act--Internal Complaints Committee--Recommendations Are Mandatory but Suspension of Members Without Prima Facie Satisfaction Is Unsustainable
Recommendations of the Internal Complaints Committee under Sections 13 and 14 of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 are mandatory in nature and not merely directory. Once the ICC finds the delinquent guilty, the employer must treat sexual harassment as misconduct and initiate disciplinary action under applicable service rules. No further inquiry beyond the ICC report is contemplated. The ICC functions as a quasi-judicial authority, and suspension of its members requires prior recording of prima facie satisfaction by the disciplinary authority that the alleged misconduct, if proved, would warrant a major penalty. Suspension orders passed without application of mind are liable to be quashed.
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