The Supreme Court on Monday underscored that women are India’s largest minority and that ensuring their political equality is a constitutional commitment, as it sought the Centre’s response on a public interest plea for implementing the Women’s Reservation Act.

A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and R Mahadevan noted that the promise of equality in the Preamble must translate into meaningful representation. “Who is the largest minority in this country? It is the woman… almost 48%. This is about the political equality of women,” Justice Nagarathna observed.

The petition, filed by Congress leader Jaya Thakur, seeks enforcement of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (2023), which mandates reserving one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, and Delhi Assembly for women. Currently, the law ties implementation to delimitation following the first census post-enactment, scheduled after the 2026 census.

Senior advocate Shobha Gupta, appearing for Thakur, argued that even 75 years after Independence, women are still fighting for political space and that the proviso linking reservation to delimitation frustrates the aim of enhancing women’s participation.

The court, however, pointed out that executive action governs law enforcement and that a mandamus cannot be issued. Nonetheless, it issued notice to the Centre, directing the Union’s top law officers to respond.

The Women’s Reservation Act, passed in 2023, inserted Article 334A into the Constitution. The quota will last 15 years, with Parliament empowered to extend it.