The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre on a plea seeking immediate implementation of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, which reserves one-third of all seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women. The bench, however, reiterated that the enforcement of such laws falls within the executive’s domain.
A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan said it would examine the plea but underlined the limits of judicial intervention in policy matters.
“The courts have limitations when interfering with such policy matters,” Justice Nagarathna remarked, adding, “Our Preamble to the Constitution says all citizens are entitled to political and social equality. Who is the largest minority in this country? It is the women. It’s almost 48 per cent. This is about the political equality of women.”
The petition, filed by Congress leader Jaya Thakur through advocate Varun Thakur, sought implementation of the 2023 constitutional amendment without waiting for the next census and subsequent delimitation exercise. Represented by senior advocate Shobha Gupta, Thakur argued that it was “unfortunate that women have to move the court for representation even after 75 years of independence.”
The plea described the delimitation clause — which mandates fresh census data before implementing the reservation — as a “clog” that renders the Act’s enforcement uncertain. It requested the court to declare this condition void ab initio to enable immediate implementation of the 33% reservation.
The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Act, 2023 was passed during a special session of Parliament in September 2023 with near-unanimous support. President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent on September 28, 2023.
The Act mandates that the reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies will take effect only after the completion of a new census and a subsequent delimitation process. The quota, once implemented, will remain in force for 15 years, extendable by Parliament.
This is not the first time the apex court has been approached on the issue. Earlier, on January 10, 2024, the court had refused to examine petitions filed by Jaya Thakur and the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) challenging the delimitation clause of the Act. The bench had then observed that Thakur’s plea had become infructuous since the Bill had already become law and declined to entertain NFIW’s petition under Article 32, directing it to approach an appropriate forum.
In November 2023, the Supreme Court had also noted that it would be “very difficult” to strike down a provision of the women’s reservation law that ties implementation to the next census.
The petition highlighted that women’s representation in Parliament and state assemblies has remained inadequate since independence, with women making up only about 15% of the Lok Sabha and under 10% in most state legislatures. It argued that the continued delay undermines the spirit of political equality envisioned by the Constitution.
The court has sought the Centre’s response on the plea, which will now be examined further. While the bench has acknowledged the constitutional principle of equality, it also signalled restraint, noting that the timing and manner of enforcing the law rest with the executive branch.
