JUDGMENT :

S. RAVINDRA BHAT, J.

1. The writ-petitioner organisation, approaches this court under Article 32 of the Constitution, seeking issuance of appropriate orders directing the respondents [Union government, and each State/UT government – collectively referred to as ‘respondent-state’] to take steps for implementing the provisions of the Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 read with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Rules, 2013 [hereafter “Act/POSH Act” or “Act” and “Rules/POSH Rules” respectively]. The detailed claims¹[The following abbreviations have been used in the writ petition, as well as in this judgment hereafter: “LCC” or “LC” mean ‘Local Committee’ (as per Act 23/2016 which amended ‘local complaints committee’ to ‘local committee’); and “ICC” or “IC” to mean ‘Internal Complaints Committee’] are extracted verbatim:

“1. To issue a writ in the nature of mandamus or an appropriate writ, order or direction as may be necessary:-

a. Directing all the Respondents, i.e. Union of India, States and UTs to implement the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, Redressal) Act, 2013 and the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, Redressal) Rules, 2013 without any further delay;

b. Directing all the States/UTs to notify and appoint the District Officers as per Section 5 of the Act;

c. Directing all the States/UTs to constitute LCCs in all the districts as per Section 6 & 7 of the Act;

d. Directing all the States/UTs to appoint Nodal Officers as per Section 6 of the Act;

e. Directing all the States/UTs to constitute ICCs as per Section 4 of the Act in all the workplaces defined in Section 2(o) of the Act;

f. Directing all the States/UTs to ensure reporting and collection of Annual Compliance Reports from all workplaces by all the District Officers of respective States as per Section 21 and 22 of the Act;

g. Directing all the States/UTs to ensure that the Annual Compliance Reports collected by District Office[r]s, containing information on the number of cases filed and their disposal, are consolidated and the reports are published and put in public domain;

h. Directing all the States/UTs to give due publicity to the Acts and Rules in all the Districts – block, talukas, tehsil in rural or tribal area and ward or municipality in the urban area and that awareness activities will be organized to advance the understanding of the provisions of this Act;

i. Directing all the States/UTs that the gist of important provisions will be displayed at all working places in all the States/UTs.

j. Directing Respondent No.1 to frame rules and/or directions as provided in Section 29 of the Act, to clarify role of Districts in collecting annual compliance reports from ICCs and LCCs, role of District Officers in collecting fines for non-compliance of the Act and appropriate authority for collection of fines;

2. Issue any other writ/order/direction as this Hon’ble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case.”

2. Over the course of many hearings, this court, with the able assistance and cooperation of learned counsels involved in the matter – on both sides – undertook an exercise to delineate lacunae in the implementation of the Act, on ground. Further, in compliance with orders of this court, numerous states²[Including Nagaland, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Goa, Puducherry, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Karnataka, Manipur, Haryana, Telangana, Gujarat, Assam, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh UT, Andaman and Nicobar, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim, Punjab, Odisha, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, NCT Delhi, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Tripura.] filed affidavits highlighting steps taken by their respective governments in furtherance of implementing the Act and Rules in letter and spiri