Women’s Reservation Bill’s immediate implementation is illegal, despite being approved. Explained

The Women Reservation Bill, 2023, or the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’, was passed with a whopping majority in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The bill calls to reserve one-third or 33% of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies.

The bill to reserve one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, with Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal saying it is part of a series of measures the government has taken for the empowerment of women.

Since being passed in the Lok Sabha, several political parties, including senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi have demanded immediate implementation of the bill, starting with the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. However, BJP has said that immediate implementation is not possible. 

According to a report by News18 citing people familiar with the developments, the Women Reservation Bill, 2023, cannot be immediately implemented because the Indian Government needs to bring into consideration a fresh census and delimitation exercise, in order to avoid a legal challenge. 

The report also quoted Union Home Minister Amit Shah explaining that that the government could be accused of partisanship if a seat was reserved for women without any criteria determined through a delimitation exercise.

Notably, the last census data is of 2011 and the last delimitation was done even before that. The 2021 census was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic

Former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had on Wednesday, said in Lok Sabha that the Women Reservation Bill, 2023, should be implemented immediately, and the OBC reservation should also be given in the women quota.

The Women Reservation Bill, 2023, which was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, is widely expected to get the approval of the Upper House.

It will then require the approval of a majority of the state assemblies. It will be implemented after a delimitation exercise based on the Census data.

This is the seventh attempt since 1996 to get the women's reservation bill passed.

Women presently make up for nearly half of India's 95 crore registered voters but comprise only 15 per cent of lawmakers in Parliament and 10 per cent in the state assemblies.

The 33% reservation for women will not apply to the Upper House of Parliament and state legislatures.