Chandigarh, Feb. 10 -- The joint director of the fisheries department, Haryana, has approached the Punjab and Haryana high court challenging the proceedings initiated against him under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act), along with the consequential punitive action withdrawing his promotion. A bench of justice Sandeep Moudgil, in an order passed on February 6, granted liberty to the petitioner, Shripal, to separately challenge the withdrawal of the promotion order by filing an independent writ petition. Meanwhile, notice was issued to the respondents and was accepted on their behalf, following which a short adjournment was sought to enable them to file their written statements. The bench directed the respondents to file their written statements at least three days prior to the next date of hearing. The matter has now been listed for hearing in the first week of March. No interim relief was granted by the court. In the petition, it has been alleged that the proceedings suffer from lack of jurisdiction, violation of mandatory statutory procedure, structural bias, denial of principles of natural justice, breach of Article 311 of the Constitution, and colourable exercise of power. The petitioner was promoted and appointed as director of fisheries, Haryana, in 2024. He was also the appointing and disciplinary authority for Group 'C' employees, thereby falling within the definition of "employer" under Section 2(g) of the POSH Act. In January 2026, the petitioner was informed that two complaints under the POSH Act had been received and was directed to appear before the internal complaints committee (ICC). However, no copies of the complaints were supplied.htc...