- The Supreme Court has requested the Central government to reply to appeal by Congress leader Jaya Thakur
- The appeal requests to implement 33% reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies
The Supreme Court, on Monday, issued a notice to the Central government regarding a petition filed by Congress leader Jaya Thakur, seeking implementation of the legislation that provides for 33 percent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.
A bench of justices BV Nagarathna and R Mahadevan has ordered the government to respond to the public interest litigation (PIL) regarding implementation of the women’s reservation law, without waiting to carry out a fresh delimitation exercise.
During the hearing, the bench stated: "The Preamble to the Constitution guarantees political and social equality. Who, in this country, is the largest minority? It is women — almost 48 percent. This is about ensuring political equality to women."
Senior counsel Shobha Gupta, on behalf of Thakur, stated that it is unfortunate that even after 75 years of independence, women still have to come to court for political representation.
The bench also noted, “When is the delimitation exercise scheduled? Provide notice to the government. It is for the executive to implement the law, and we cannot issue a mandamus. Issue notice to respondents. For now, we will notify the central agency.”
The petition has challenged the provision stating that the enforcement of women’s reservation will be dependent on the completion of the census and subsequent delimitation and argued that reservation should be enforced immediately.
The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam received Presidential assent on 28th September 2023 after a special session of the Parliament convened for its passage.
Jaya Thakur, who works as General Secretary of the Madhya Pradesh Women’s Wing of the Congress, has sought the implementation of the law providing for a the reservation of one-third for women in Parliament and state assemblies.
Thakur filed the original plea in 2023, seeking the reservation of women enacted before the general elections of 2024, but at the time the Supreme Court declined to entertain the petition.
