Supreme Court seeks Centre’s response on plea to implement Women’s Reservation Act without delimitation

The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Central government's response to a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Act before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections without waiting for a fresh delimitation exercise [Yogamaya MG v. Union of India].

A Bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and R Mahadevan issued notice on the petition.

The plea argues that the reservation law should be operationalised on the basis of the 2001 or 2011 Census instead of being deferred indefinitely until a post-2026 Census and delimitation exercise.

It further contends that although parliament enacted the Constitution (128th Amendment) Act, 2023 to reserve one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women, the law has remained inoperative because its implementation has been tied to the first Census conducted after the Act came into force and the delimitation exercise that follows.

According to the plea, waiting indefinitely for those processes could deprive women of the benefit of reservation even in the 2029 general elections.

The petition assumes significance in the backdrop of parliament’s recent rejection of the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, which sought to expand the strength of the Lok Sabha and enable a nationwide delimitation exercise.

Following the Bill’s failure to secure the required two-thirds majority, the Centre also withdrew the Delimitation Bill, 2026 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, leaving the timeline for delimitation uncertain.

The petitioner has urged the Court to direct the Union government to implement the Women’s Reservation Act using the 2001 or 2011 Census data under the Delimitation Act, 2002, instead of waiting for a future Census and delimitation exercise.

It argues that despite constitutional guarantees of equality, women continue to remain significantly underrepresented in legislatures. Referring to the composition of parliament after the 2024 general elections, the petition states that women constitute only about 13.6 per cent of the Lok Sabha and around 14 per cent of the Rajya Sabha, placing India well below the global average in women’s parliamentary representation.

It contends that formal equality has not translated into meaningful political empowerment due to structural barriers, including patriarchal social norms, economic dependence, lack of political resources and discrimination.

The plea also argues that although women are represented in parliament, many enter electoral politics because of political lineage, family background, party patronage or celebrity status rather than through independent grassroots mobilisation.

According to the petitioner, the reservation framework should be viewed not merely as a numerical exercise, but as a long-term corrective mechanism that would enable grassroots women leaders to enter legislative bodies and participate meaningfully in law-making.

The plea further cites studies to argue that women legislators outperform their male counterparts in less-developed constituencies, are more effective in completing infrastructure projects, are less likely to face criminal charges and are less prone to exploiting public office for personal financial gain.

The petition is filed by Advocate Yogamaya MG and was argued by Senior Advocate NS Nappinai.