The Supreme Court on January 12 refused to entertain a plea filed by an advocate seeking urgent and time-bound implementation of the women's reservation law to ensure 33% quota for them in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, however, granted liberty to the advocate Yogamaya MG to file an intervention petition in a pending PIL filed by Congress leader Jaya Thakur.
"Look, we don't want multiplicity of litigation in the matter. You file an intervention application in the petition filed by Jaya Thakur," the Bench said.
Counsel appearing for Yogamaya requested the court to allow the petitioner to withdraw the petition. The Bench agreed to the submission and allowed it to be withdrawn. The plea by Ms. Thakur is likely to be listed on January 16.
The petition filed by Yogamaya contended there is an urgent need for timely implementation of the new law in the upcoming general elections because, without expeditious action, its intended benefits for women in the political arena will be lost.
"The Women's Reservation Act, 2023 was passed with uncertainty in its implementation. That the petitioner seeks the intervention of this court to ensure that the Constitutional mandate of fair representation for women is expeditiously realised," it said.
Officially known as Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, the law provides for reservation of one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and all State Assemblies for women.
The law will, however, not be implemented immediately. It will come into force after a new census has been conducted based on which delimitation will be undertaken to reserve seats for women.
