Overview
- A bench of Justices B. V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan issued notice to the Union government, served through the Home and Law ministries, on a plea to implement 33% reservation for women without waiting for fresh delimitation.
- The petition by Congress leader Jaya Thakur challenges the clause tying rollout to the next census and subsequent delimitation and seeks immediate implementation of the quota.
- The court said enforcing the law is the executive’s responsibility and noted it can ask the government to state when it proposes to conduct delimitation.
- Justice Nagarathna called women the country’s “largest minority” and framed the amendment as political justice, asking why parties cannot increase representation even without formal reservation.
- Passed in a special session and assented to in September 2023, the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam provides one-third reservation in Parliament and state assemblies for 15 years by rotation, but it remains unimplemented pending census and delimitation; an earlier 2023 plea before the 2024 polls was not entertained.