WOMEN RESERVATION BILL
The Supreme Court on November 3, 2023 expressed its reservations about directing the union government to immediately implement before the general elections of 2024, the Constitution (One hundred and sixth Amendment) which talks about two-third reservation of women under lok sabha and state legislative assemblies. Although the amendment was signed into law by the President Droupdi Murmu, the Act will not be applied before the delimitation exercise conducted following the next census.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Jaya Thakur, a Congress leader who claims that a constitutional amendment once passed with the overwhelming majority cannot be withheld. During the course of today’s hearing, Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, who appeared for the petitioner argued that the exercise of census was wholly unnecessary for reserving seats for the women in state and union legislature since the census was required before introducing backward class quota not for representation of women. Thus, what has the census got to do with women’s reservation? The senior counsel asked, before adding that the clause deferring the implementation of the amendment should struck down as arbitrary.
The bench has however revealed its disinclination to strike down the offering clause by the senior counsel. Singh pointed out the plea by the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) that is currently being heard by the Supreme Court, asking why the government had not filed a response to NFIW’s public interest litigation petition. The Apex court agreed to hear this plea along with the NFIW’s plea. Justice Khanna stated that we have understood your argument that you are saying that census is not required but there are a lot of other issues. Seats are required to be reserved first.
BACKGROUND
On September 29, President of India gave her assent to the women’s reservation bill that passed in both the houses of the parliament with broad bipartism. The Constitution, 106th Amendment Act, 2023 will come into effect after the conduct of delimitation exercise following the next census which seeks not only reservation of one-third seats for the women in the Lok Sabha , the upper houses of State legislative assemblies and the Delhi Legislative Assembly, but also, it introduces horizontal reservation for women in Schedule castes and tribes within the women’s quota.The amendment act has modified Article 239 AA and inserted three new Articles .i.e. 330A, 332A, these two articles seeks to introduce 33% of the reservation in the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies respectively and Article 334A, which declares that this positive policy will cease to operate after 15 years.
During the debate regarding this reservation bill, the opposition questioned the clause that sought to defer its implementation and urged the union government to immediately implement the bill without conducting the census and delimitation exercise. Last month, congress leader, Jaya thakur also filed a PIL seeking the immediate implementation of this 106th Constitutional Amendment and to declare this delimitation clog as ‘void-ab initio’. Thakur’s plea states that the constitutional amendment should not be withheld for an uncertain period, especially when it has been passed by an overwhelming majority in both the houses of parliament in the special session which is specifically called for that purpose only.
AUTHOR:- DEEPIKA JAIN, a Student of BM LAW COLLEGE
