The protest by Indian wrestlers has highlighted the importance of internal complaints committees.
What is internal complaints committees (ICC)?
First port of call- ICC was designed to be the first port of call for any grievance under the POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act) Act 2013.
Section 4 of the POSH Act- Every office of an organization employing 10 or more employees must have an internal committee dedicated to hearing and resolving sexual harassment complaints.
Members - It needs to have a minimum of 4 members with at least half should be women.
Among women 1 shall be shall be an external member
Preferably from an NGO or
An association that works for women’s empowerment or
A person familiar with issues related to sexual harassment.
Mandatory for recognitions- A functional ICC is one of the key conditions set up by the Ministry of Sports to grant annual recognition to the sporting federations.
Court verdict - In Global Health Private Limited & Mr. Arvinder Bagga v. Local Complaints Committee, District Indore and Others (2017), the Court held that there should be a fine imposed under the POSH Act for failing to constitute the ICC.
Female Presiding Officer- Has been made mandatory and should be an employee at a senior level at work.
Power of a civil court- Regarding investigation complaints of workplace sexual harassment ICC have the same powers as civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure 1908.
Tenure- ICC members have a maximum term of 3 years.
Section 10 of the POSH Act -ICC can resolve a complaint between the parties at the request of the aggrieved woman through conciliation by reaching an amicable settlement.
What are the challenges to ICC?
The POSH act is not gender neutral so the ICC can conduct investigations only if it is filed by women which excludes men and LGBTQ+ members.
Lack of awareness about ICC to the workers.
There is no mandate to form ICC in the informal sectors.
Even though many association have ICC the structure and functions are not conductive with POSH act.
What is the way forward?
Strict actions should be taken by government in case of a national sporting body having no ICC.
The functions and structure of the ICC needs to be reexamined by the government which should be in conducive with current demands.
Before starting of any tournament the awareness should be made about ICC.
Quick facts
Athletics Federation of India (AFI) is the body with the largest membership and the highest women participation.
National level Sports Federations (NSFs)
A list of 56 NSFs recognized by the Government for different sports disciplines.
NSFs can be recognized only by the union government.
Elections are held by the NSFs at the intervals prescribed under the bye-laws of the concerned NSFs.
National Sports Development Code of India 2011 provides the guild lines to conduct election for NSFs.
From 2010 the Government has introduced a system of annual recognition procedure for the NSFs.
