Delhi High Court refuses to entertain PIL to implement Women's Reservation Act before 2024 polls

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking implementation of the Women’s Reservation Act 2023 before the 2024 general elections [Ms Yogamaya MG v Union of India and Ors]..The Act mandates 33 percent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha. A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna remarked that the parliament has already said that the provisions of the Act will come into force after delimitation exercise and courts cannot do anything.The Bench examined the Act and said that if the petitioner wants early implementation of the Act, she will have to challenge the provisions of the Act which says the reservation will be implemented after census and delimitation.“We cannot go behind Section 334A (the provision mandating implementation of the Act after delimitation)..You will have to pray for its quashing. We cannot do anything. Parliament has specified when it will come into force… How can any court act contrary to that,” the Court said.The Court also noted that another plea challenging the provisions of the Act has already been filed before the Supreme Court and therefore, the petitioner can also approach the apex court.The petitioner eventually withdrew the plea and the Court granted liberty to the petitioner to approach the Supreme Court..The Court was dealing with a PIL filed by advocate Yogamaya MG seeking implementation of Act before the Lok Sabha elections.Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma appeared for the Central government and pointed out that the Act itself contains a provision that says it will come into force after the delimitation exercise is carried out..Notably, the petitioner had earlier approached the single-judge of the Delhi High Court with the plea. However, the Court said that the reliefs sought are in the nature of a PIL and the petitioner should file a PIL..In her petition, the petitioner sought directions to the Central government to "provide a firm and expedited date for the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Bill 2023, considering the prolonged period of uncertainty surrounding the delimitation process."She made the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Indian National Congress (INC) and other major political parties as respondents and asked for a direction to the ECI to solicit response from all these parties about how they plan to implement the provisions of the bill.It was the petitioner’s case that even though the bill was passed by the parliament with unanimity, there was no certainty as to when it would be implemented.The plea noted that implementation of the provisions of the Act was contingent on the completion of a delimitation exercise based on the first census taken after the commencement of the Constitution (128th Amendment) Act, 2023. Hence, the petitioner highlighted it was estimated that the Act may not be implemented before the year 2029.Therefore, the petitioner called on the Court to issue directions so that the Act is implemented sooner..The petition was filed through advocates Mamta Ranni, Nandana Menon and Anjitha Santosh.