New Delhi: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking immediate roll-out of the Women Reservation Bill before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Congress leader Jaya Thakur filed a petition stating that the law will be implemented after the delimitation is undertaken for this purpose after the relevant figures for the first census are declared as “void-ab-initio” for immediate implementation of the 33 percent women reservation in the legislature.
The constitutional amendment must be held for some time. This amendment special session was called for implementing the Reservation in Parliament and the State Legislature. Both houses passed this Bill unanimously, and the Hon’ble President of India also gave permission. After that, the Act was notified on 28 September 2023, but despite the publication, the object of the Act can only be withheld for a certain period, the plea stressed.
The census and delimitation are not required because the number of seats has already been declared. The present amendment gives 33 percent reservation for existing seats, an admitted position in our country that 50 percent is women population. Still, they have only 4 percent representation in elections.
Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam Bill 2023 — passed in September this year in a special session of Parliament — mandates a 33 percent quota for women in the Lok Sabha and all state Assemblies, including Delhi.
The quota for women will likely be wholly rolled out nationwide in 2029 post-completion of the delimitation exercise and will continue for 15 years.
The Women Reservation Bill does not intend to alter the composition of the present Lok Sabha or existing Legislative Assemblies. This will apply once they are freshly constituted upon completion of their respective tenure or dissolved for any other cause.
