From Vishaka to Virtual Workspaces: The Expanding Scope of the POSH Act

Posted On - 1 December, 2025 • By - Shubhra Shastri

Introduction

Sexual harassment in the workplace remains a serious concern that undermines the dignity, safety, and equality of working women, while also creating an atmosphere that makes them feel disrespected and unsafe, and inhibits their professional development. Until a significant court ruling in 1997, many of the effects on women remained unaddressed under the Indian legal system.

Vishaka Guidelines: A watershed moment

After the gang rape of Bhanwari Devi, a Dalit social worker, in 1992, the need for a legal basis was recognized. She was targeted while trying to stop a child marriage in her village. Her case showed the dangers women face even while doing their jobs. The Supreme Court, in Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan (1997), responded to this situation by laying down the Vishaka Guidelines.

These guidelines were drawn from international conventions like CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) and the ILO Convention No. C111. They required all workplaces to create preventive measures and set up internal mechanisms to address sexual harassment complaints.

Women had few options to seek justice before the Vishaka decision. The provisions under the IPC existed but were of insufficient effect. For example, in the case of Rupan Deol Bajaj v. K.P.S. Gill (1995), it illustrates the challenges that arose in dealing with these issues under existing criminal laws, because there was neither a definition of workplace sexual harassment nor any mechanism to report it.

The POSH Act provides a clear definition of sexual harassment and expands the definition of “workplace” to refer to all types of workplaces inclusive of all spaces used for work not merely an office setting. In addition, the Act mandates each organization to constitute an Internal Committee (IC) to handle grievances. The Act is mainly aimed at ensuring a safe workplace for women and a respectful working climate for women.

The proper law was established through the Vishaka Guidelines. In the year 2013, the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, known as the POSH Act was passed in the Indian parliament. This law, among many, is rightly founded on the values of equality and dignity contained in Articles 14, 19(1)(g) & 21 of the Constitution of India.

The OLA Cab Case: Liability of the Aggregator 2024 SCC OnLine Kar 102.

[1]The Karnataka High Court noted a recent case in 2024 that offered further meaning within the POSH Act context to the provisions set out above. On August 23, 2018, a woman was sexually harassed by an OLA cab driver who was not assigned to her ride. The driver behaved inappropriately, and the description of the case shows the driver was watching pornography and almost masturbating during the ride, despite the woman’s pleas to him to stop touching himself.

OLA’s response after the woman filed a complaint was poor as well. OLA merely offered vague counselling, the cab driver was blacklisted, but the company failed to take responsibility or offer the woman any real support in addition to counselling. The woman has since decided to seek justice under the POSH Act.

The Karnataka High Court, with Justice MGS Kamal, found that OLA’s Internal Committee failed to fulfil its responsibility by rejecting her complaint. OLA argued that the driver was not its employee so they could not be responsible for him while he was working as a driver for them. The court found that OLA, through its status as a cab aggregator under the Aggregators Rules, 2016, is accountable for the safety of the passenger using its service and must recognize that the driver operates in its control.

The court ordered the internal committee to reopen the case and complete the investigation in 90 days. The court ordered the payment of ₹5 lakhs as compensation to the woman for her emotional trauma and ₹50,000 for the expense of the litigation. The judgment sent a strong message that companies cannot escape their obligations to individuals by playing with the definitions of employment.

Responsibility of the Employer: TCS Case[2]

In another major ruling, the Bombay High Court heard the case of Tata Consultancy Services v. Tanuja Priya Bhat. The Court made it abundantly clear that an employer takes on an obligation to provide a workplace that is free from sexual harassment. Merely forming an Internal Committee is just not enough; the Internal Committee must be able to function and must treat complaints seriously.

This case verified that having a mere policy in writing is insufficient, implementation of the policy and being sensitive to issues is equally important. In a significant part of the ruling, the Court again addressed all employers and reiterated their legal and ethical responsibility to provide a safe workplace for women employees.

Work Environment in a Digital World:

The Rajasthan High Court’s View In 2023, our workplaces do not have to be physical workplaces anymore. Digital communication and online engagement mean harassment can also occur in online forums. This important point was highlighted in Sanjeev Mishra v. Bank of Baroda[3], decided by the Rajasthan High Court.

In this instance, a female employee experienced sexual harassment by a male coworker from another state. The court decided that all offices of a single organization, even when located in different states, should be regarded as under the same workplace, provided the interaction was in a digital form. The ruling extended the definition of “workplace,” as set forth in the POSH Act in India, to include virtual spaces in order to provide protection for women in all types of environments, even when not in a physical space.

Conclusion:

The journey from the grisly experience of Bhanwari Devi to the contemporary digital workplace illustrates the distance India has travelled in protecting women in the workplace. The POSH Act, to which various judicial decisions have staked within it, provides strong legal mandates. Laws, however, do not do enough on their own. Companies must act in a manner that evidences responsibility, first and foremost by taking complaints seriously, and secondly, by developing and supporting a culture of dignity and respect.

The matters against OLA and the case brought against TCS remind us, when discussing contemporary decision-making, that organizations must do much more than just comply, they must also embody the values and acts of justice and safety. As work environments become ever more digital, the legal system is rewriting itself to help ensure that no woman must experience harassment in offices, cabs, or now on screens.

[1] [X v. Internal Complaints Committee, 2024 SCC OnLine Kar 102, decided on 30-9-2024]

[2] Key Judgements – Sahas by Women Safety Wing

[3] India’s workplace sexual harassment law: a decade on | International Bar Association