---
title: "Vishaka Guidelines: Meaning & Significance | Model Diplomat"
description: "The Vishaka Guidelines are 1997 Supreme Court rules on workplace sexual harassment in India, crucial for UPSC candidates until replaced by the POSH Act."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/vishaka-guidelines"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- The Vishaka Guidelines were judicially framed rules issued by the Supreme Court of India in 1997 to prevent and redress sexual harassment of women at workplaces until Parliament enacted legislation.
- Are the Vishaka Guidelines still in force?
- What was the constitutional basis for the Vishaka Guidelines?
- How do the Vishaka Guidelines differ from the POSH Act, 2013?
- What was the composition of the Complaints Committee under Vishaka?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

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## Timeline

1. 13 August 1997

   State of Rajasthan\*, delivered on by a bench comprising Chief Justice J.S.

2. 22 April 2013

   The legislative response finally arrived as the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013—commonly the POSH A…

3. 9 December 2013

   The legislative response finally arrived as the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013—commonly the POSH A…

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Example

In Vishaka and Others v. State of Rajasthan (1997), the Supreme Court of India, hearing a PIL prompted by the gang rape of social worker Bhanwari Devi, framed binding guidelines requiring every employer to constitute a woman-led complaints committee.

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