Hope Lok Sabha enforces 33% women's quota soon: Justice Nagarathna

NEW DELHI: Pitching strongly for early implementation of 33% reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies, Supreme Court Judge B V Nagarathna Friday hoped it would happen within her lifetime, a day which would mark the culmination of the goals of 'real equality' envisaged by framers of the Constitution.

"The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 provides for 33% reservation for women in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas. I hope this gets implemented in our lifetime and that day will mark the culmination of centuries of struggle of women for gender equality , a cherished goal of the framers of our Constitution," she said at the release of book 'Women Laws - From the Womb to the Tomb' authored by senior advocate Mahalakshmi Pavani.

Justice Nagarathna , who would be the first woman CJI in Sep 2027, said women are the rightful participants in public roles and positions. "They are not invading men's territory but reclaiming the territory which had been denied to them through the barriers of patriarchal discrimination. We are not anti-men. We are pro-women," she said.

She appealed to retired SC judge D N Maheshwari, who was recently appointed chairperson of the law commission, to study all laws that appear to be discriminatory towards women and make a "series of recommendations to Union govt to effect remedial measures" to usher in gender equality.