Overview
- A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan issued notice to the Union government on Dr. Jaya Thakur’s petition challenging the clause that defers the quota until census and delimitation.
- The bench stated that enforcing a law is the executive and Parliament’s domain and said it can only ask when the proposed delimitation will be conducted.
- Justice Nagarathna described women as the country’s “largest minority,” noting they comprise nearly 48% of the population and stressing the issue of political equality.
- Passed in September 2023, the Women’s Reservation Act takes effect only after the first post‑enactment census and a subsequent delimitation, with the government having indicated a 2027 census.
- Petitioners argue the contingency defeats the law’s purpose given low representation—about 75 women in the 543‑member Lok Sabha and 42 in the Rajya Sabha—and the court has not fixed the next hearing date.