'Difficult' to strike down part of women reservation law that says it will be implemented after Census, says SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said it would be “very difficult” to strike down a part of the women’s reservation law, which stated that it will come into effect after the census.

The top court refused to issue notice to the Centre on the plea filed by Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Jaya Thakur.

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and S V N Bhatti said, “This is a step taken, which is a very good step".

Refusing to accept the argument of senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Thakur, the bench said there is a petition pending before the apex court on the issue and it will take up Thakur’s plea along with that on November 22.

Singh asked the court to issue a notice. However, the court declined it.

Singh argued that it is understandable that a census is required for data collection for the grant of reservation to backward classes.

He asked as to how the question of a census arises in the case of women’s reservation law.

Singh contended that part of the law which said that it will be implemented after the census, was arbitrary and the court must strike it down.

“It will be very difficult for the court to do that,” the bench said.

The bench told Singh that it has understood his argument that census is not required (for women’s reservation). “But there are a whole lot of issues. Seats will have to be first reserved and other things,” the bench said.

The court said it was not dismissing the plea and only tagging it with the pending matter.

Thakur filed the plea in the court seeking immediate implementation of the women reservation bill, passed by both houses of the Parliament, before the 2024 General Elections.

The Women's Reservation Bill received the nod of President Droupadi Murmu in September, days after its historic passage in both houses of the Parliament, and with her assent, the legislation has been turned into a law. Officially known as 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam', the law proposes to reserve one-third of the seats in Lok Sabha and all state assemblies for women.

Thakur’s plea contended that in the democratic process all corners of the society's representation is required but from the last 75 years there is no adequate representation of required women in Parliament as well as in the state legislature.

In view of long pending demand and after the enactment, putting a clog that the said act will be implemented after the delimitation is undertaken may be declared as Void-ab-initio, for immediate implementation of the 33 per cent women reservation, the plea said.