POSH Act Section 27 — Cognizance of offence by courts

Summary

Sub-section (1) states that a court can only take up an offence under this Act or its rules if a complaint is filed by the woman who faced the harassment, or by a person authorised by the Internal Committee or Local Committee to file it on her behalf.

Sub-section (2) provides that only a court at the level of a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate of the first class, or a higher court, can try any offence under this Act. Lower courts are not allowed to handle such cases.

Sub-section (3) declares that every offence under this Act is non-cognizable, meaning the police cannot arrest a person for such an offence without a warrant and cannot start an investigation on their own without a court order.

Official Text

(1) No court shall take cognizance of any offence punishable under this Act or any rules made thereunder, save on a complaint made by the aggrieved woman or any person authorised by the Internal Committee or Local Committee in this behalf.

(2) No court inferior to that of a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate of the first class shall try any offence punishable under this Act.

(3) Every offence under this Act shall be non-cognizable.

Related Judgments

• FEDERATION OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGICAL SOCIETIES OF INDIA (FOGSI) vs UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS — Supreme Court of India (2019)
• UMA SHANKAR SINGH vs STATE OF BIHAR AND ANR — Supreme Court of India (2010)
• TOFAN SINGH vs STATE OF TAMIL NADU — Supreme Court of India (2020)