Plea in SC seeks implementation of Women Reservation Bill before 2024 polls
Nov 01, 2023
New Delhi [India], November 1 : The Supreme Court will hear on November 3 a petition seeking immediate implementation of the 33 per cent Women Reservation Bill in its true letter and spirit before Parliamentary General Election 2024.
The plea has been filed by Jaya Thakur through advocates Varun Thakur and Varinder Kumar Sharma.
The matter will be heard by a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti.
The petitioner has sought direction to declare the clause "after the delimitation is undertaken for this purpose after the relevant figures for the first census" of "The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eight Amendment) Bill 2023 (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam) as "void-ab-initio" for immediate implementation of the 33 per cent Women Reservation, in its true letter and spirit before Parliamentary General Election 2024.
The petitioner said that in the democratic process, all corners of the society's representation are required, but for the last 75 years, there has been no adequate representation of women in the parliament as well as in the State Legislature, the petitioner said.
"This has been pending demand for decades and the parliament rightly passed the above act for 33 per cent reservation but putting the clog that the said act will be implemented "after the delimitation is undertaken for this purpose "after the relevant figures for the first census" which may kindly be declared as "void-ab-initio", for immediate implementation of the 33 per cent women reservation," the petitioner added.
She further added that the constitutional amendment cannot be held for an uncertain period.
"In fact, this amendment special session was called for implementing the Reservation in Parliament as well as in the State Legislature and both houses passed this Bill unanimously and President of India also gave assent and thereafter Act was notified on September 28, 2023, but despite the publication object of the Act cannot be withheld for an uncertain period," the petitioner said.
"Regarding this aspect there is a settled proposition of law that there is always a presumption in regard to the constitutional validity of enactment that unless the amendment and enactment are declared ultra-vires of the Constitution, its effect and operation cannot be stayed, as per the law settled by this Court in the case of "Bhavesh D. Parish and others Vs. Union of India and another," the petitioner said further.
The petitioner has sought to declare the clause 1. g. "after the delimitation is undertaken for this purpose after the relevant figures for the first census" of "The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eight Amendment) Bill 2023 (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam) as "void-ab-initio".
The petitioner also sought to issue appropriate direction to the Respondent for implementing "The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eight Amendment) Bill 2023 (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam) in its true letter and spirit before the General Election of 2024.
