'Largest Minority': SC Notice To Centre On Plea To Implement Women’s Reservation In Parliament

Last Updated:November 10, 2025, 19:32 IST

The plea, filed by Congress leader Dr Jaya Thakur, seeks the immediate implementation of the 33% quota without waiting for the next census and subsequent delimitation exercise

Given that the next census is projected to occur no earlier than 2027, the law’s actual implementation is widely expected to be delayed until the 2029 general elections or even later. Representational image

The Supreme Court of India on Monday issued a notice to the Union government, seeking a detailed response to a petition that challenges the conditional implementation of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023—the landmark women’s reservation law. The Act mandates that one-third of all seats in the Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, and the Delhi Assembly be reserved for women.

The plea, filed by Congress leader Dr Jaya Thakur, specifically seeks the immediate implementation of the 33% quota without waiting for the next census and subsequent delimitation exercise. The petitioner argues that tying the reservation to these lengthy future processes acts as an indefinite “clog" that undermines the law’s objective and violates the fundamental rights of women.

A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and R Mahadevan acknowledged the gravity of the issue and made powerful observations regarding political equality. Justice Nagarathna orally remarked, “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 woman… almost 48 per cent. This is about the political equality of the woman."

The bench, however, noted the limits of judicial intervention in policy matters, stating that enforcement of a law falls within the executive’s domain. The court can only inquire about the government’s proposed timeline for implementation. The petitioner, through Senior Advocate Shobha Gupta, contended that it was “unfortunate that women have to move the court for representation even after 75 years of independence".

The core of the legal challenge lies in Article 334A, which was inserted into the Constitution by the 106th Amendment Act (2023). This Article explicitly states that the reservation will take effect only after the results of the first census conducted subsequent to the Act’s enactment are published, followed by a full delimitation exercise to redraw constituency boundaries.

Given that the next census is projected to occur no earlier than 2027, the law’s actual implementation is widely expected to be delayed until the 2029 general elections or even later. The petitioner has sought to declare the delimitation contingency clause as “void ab initio" (invalid from the outset) to allow for immediate roll-out of the reservation.

The Supreme Court’s decision to seek the Centre’s reply sets the stage for a major constitutional debate on the immediacy of ensuring political equity for nearly half of India’s population.

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News india 'Largest Minority': SC Notice To Centre On Plea To Implement Women’s Reservation In Parliament

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