00:00I have written my hand and I will take my hand.
00:04Actor Shilpa Shinde, best known for her role in Bhabiji Ghar Par Hai,
00:08has gone viral after admitting in a recent podcast
00:11that she made false allegations of workplace sexual harassment
00:15against the show's producer back in 2016 to exit the show.
00:19What happens when a sexual harassment complaint turns out to be false?
00:23And can there be legal consequences?
00:29To understand this issue, we need to look at India's POSH Act,
00:33the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal Act of 2013.
00:39The law which builds on the Supreme Court's Vishakhah guidelines
00:43was created to protect women from sexual harassment at work.
00:47And workplace is defined broadly, from corporate offices, government departments to schools.
00:53Under the POSH Act, if an Internal Complaints Committee or the ICC
00:57finds that a complaint was not just unproven but deliberately false and malicious,
01:02action can be taken against the complainant.
01:05In a significant 2020 judgment, the Madras High Court observed that
01:08while the POSH Act is intended to ensure equality and safety for women at the workplace,
01:13it cannot be misused to harass someone through exaggerated or non-existent allegations.
01:20However, while the court quashed the case against the accused man,
01:23it did not take any action against a woman complainant.
01:26In another case, the Delhi High Court in 2019 allowed disciplinary proceedings to be initiated
01:31against a woman employee and imposed litigation costs after an ICC inquiry concluded that her complaint was false.
01:39This power comes from Section 14 of the POSH Act,
01:41which provides penalties for complaints found to be false and malicious.
01:45But the law also contains very important safeguards.
01:49A complaint cannot be labelled false simply because there is insufficient evidence or no witnesses.
01:55And before any action is taken against a complainant,
01:58the malicious intent must be specifically established through the ICC inquiry.
02:04If that threshold is met, penalties can range from warnings, apologies, financial penalties,
02:10withholding promotions, demotion, even termination.
02:13And in industries like TV and film, things can get even more complicated
02:16because workplaces are often temporary and would not always have a functioning complaints committee.
02:22So what options does a man have if he believes he's been falsely accused?
02:26He can pursue civil or criminal defamation proceedings in court.
02:30In 2025, a Delhi High Court allowed the prosecution of a woman for criminal intimidation
02:36for threatening to file a false POSH case against her boss.
02:40It noted that mere filing of a complaint before a competent authority is not defamation,
02:45even if the complaint is later found to be false.
02:49Which brings us back to Shilpa Shinde.
02:51Her admission has certainly sparked public outrage and renewed debate over false complaints and their impact.
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