SC Seeks Centre’s Reply on 33% Women’s Reservation in Politics

The Supreme Court on Monday stressed that women constitute the “largest minority” in India and that political equality for them is a constitutional pledge, as it sought the Centre’s response on a public interest plea pressing for the immediate implementation of the women’s reservation law to reserve a third of the seats in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and R Mahadevan, while hearing the plea, remarked that the promise of equality in the Preamble must translate into real representation. “The Preamble says political and social equality. Who is the largest minority in this country? It is the woman… almost 48 %. This is about the political equality of women,” Justice Nagarathna observed during the hearing. The court was dealing with a petition moved by Congress leader Jaya Thakur, who has sought the enforcement of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women’s Reservation Act) without waiting for a fresh census and delimitation exercise. The 2023 legislation mandates reserving one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, and the Delhi Assembly for women, but ties its implementation to the next delimitation to be carried out after the first census post-enactment. Appearing for Thakur, senior advocate Shobha Gupta contended that even after 75 years of Independence, women were compelled to approach courts to seek their rightful political space. “They have to reserve only one-third of the total seats. They have decided to grant the reservation based on some data,” she argued, urging the court to declare the proviso linking reservation to delimitation as void. However, the bench pointed to constitutional limits of judicial intervention in matters of legislative implementation. “Enforcement of law is up to the executive and we cannot issue a mandamus,” the court indicated. The hearing underscored the tension between constitutional promises and procedural prerequisites for reservation, with the government yet to outline a path forward on the immediate rollout. The public interest plea highlights the urgency, while the 2023 law remains to be implemented in light of delimitation triggers post-census.

Cover image source: Women 'largest minority' of India, why not give them representation without reservation, SC asks 🔗

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