Today, On 10th November, The Supreme Court sought the Centre’s response on implementing women’s reservation in Parliament, observing that the Constitution guarantees political and social equality and that women, who form nearly 48 percent of the population, deserve equal political representation and participation.
The Supreme Court requested the Central government’s response to a public interest litigation (PIL) petition advocating for the enforcement of a women’s reservation law.
This law stipulates that one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, and the Delhi Assembly must be reserved for women.
The Bench, comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and R Mahadevan, expressed support for such reservations, emphasizing that women constitute the largest minority in India.
Justice Nagarathna remarked,
“Preamble (to the Constitution of India) says (all citizens are entitled to) political and social equality. Who is the largest minority in this country? It is the woman… almost 48 percent. This is about the political equality of the woman.”
The court issued a notice concerning the plea filed by Congress leader Dr. Jaya Thakur, which seeks the immediate implementation of the Women’s Reservation Bill 2024, without waiting for a fresh delimitation exercise.
Senior Advocate Shobha Gupta, representing Dr. Thakur, stated,
“After 75 years (of India’s independence from British colonial rule), it is unfortunate that we (women) have to move court for the representation… They have to reserve only one third of total seats. They have decided to grant the reservation based on some data.”
The Bench acknowledged that the court has limitations regarding interference in policy matters.
They noted,
“When is the delimitation exercise there? Serve it to government… Enforcement of law is up to the executive and we cannot issue a mandamus. Issue notice to respondents. Let the central agency be served.”
The Women’s Reservation Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on September 20, 2023, and by the Rajya Sabha on September 21, receiving presidential assent on September 28, 2023.
This Bill introduced Article 334A to the Constitution of India, which states that reservations for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies will only take effect after a delimitation exercise, following the results of the first census conducted after the amendment.
Dr. Thakur’s petition, however, seeks to implement women’s reservations without waiting for the delimitation process to be completed.
The plea requests that the phrase “after an exercise of delimitation is undertaken for this purpose after the relevant figures for the first census” in Article 334A be declared void ab initio.
Originally filed in 2023 with the aim of implementing women’s reservations in parliament before the 2024 general elections, the petition was re-filed in 2025 and was heard in open court for the first time today.
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