On Friday, November 5, 2022, the Supreme Court issued notice on a petition filed by the NGO National Federation of Indian Women to reintroduce the Women's Reservation Bill, 2008, in order to secure a 33% quota for women in the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies.

The bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and J. K. Maheshwari directed the Center to file its response within six weeks, gave the NGO three weeks to file its rejoinder affidavit, and scheduled the matter for further hearing in March 2023. "We are aware of the maintainability problem. But it has raised an issue of considerable importance," the bench further stated.

According to the petition, it has been 25 years since the first women's reservation bill was introduced. The petition also stated that the bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha in 2010 but lapsed after the dissolution of the Lok Sabha; despite being passed by the Rajya Sabha, it was not brought before the Lok Sabha. According to the petition, the bill and its objectives have been supported by political parties and manifestos such as those of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), the Indian National Congress (INC), and the All India Congress Committee (AICC). The Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the Shiromani Akali Dal, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM), the Biju Janata Dal, the Samajwadi Party, and the National Congress Party (NCP) have all promised the passing of the bill.

"the non-introduction of the Bill is arbitrary, illegal and is leading to discrimination. It is submitted that the Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha in 2010 and has been crystallized so as to its aims and objectives to a large extent. In view thereof it is submitted that non-introduction of such an important and beneficial Bill, on which there is a virtual consensus of all major political parties, is arbitrary"

The NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee introduced the bill three times, in 1999, 2002, and 2003, without success. The UPA government under Manmohan Singh re-introduced the bill in 2010 in the Rajya Sabha, which passed it as the 108th Constitutional Amendment. But the bill lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha in 2014.

Case Details:

National Federation of Indian Women versus Union of India

WP(c) 1158/2021