Reported by Suchitra Kalyan Mohanty for The New Indian Express

A fresh Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Union of India, States and Union Territories to frame laws or policies recognising the problems faced by women during menstrual pain and to provide necessary relief, including the grant of leave, in consonance with Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.

The PIL has been filed by lawyer Shailendra Mani Tripathi, who has urged the apex court to intervene and address what he described as a legislative and policy vacuum affecting working women and female students.

“Issue directions to fill in the lacunae that exists regarding grant of relief in the nature of leave etc, to the working women & female students under exercise of power under Article 32 read with Articles 14, 21 and Articles 141 and 142 of the Indian Constitution,” the PIL said.

Tripathi highlighted in his plea that several private Indian companies have already introduced paid menstrual leave for their female employees. These include Ivipanan, Zomato, Byju’s, Swiggy, Mathrubhumi, Magzter, Industry ARC, FlyMyBiz and Gozoop.

He also pointed out that the Kerala government has granted menstrual leave to students in State universities, allowing them up to 60 days in a year.

“The prestigious institutions like NLIU Bhopal and MNLU Aurangabad have implemented menstrual leave policies. Punjab University has also approved and granted menstrual leave to the students,” Tripathi said in the PIL.

The petitioner further submitted that the menstrual status of a woman is a personal matter intrinsic to her privacy and must be treated with dignity and without discrimination.

He argued that this requires the State to introduce measures that provide appropriate relief to women during menstrual pain so that they are able to cope with the suffering and protect their personal rights with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The petition, filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, sought directions to all States to frame a policy for menstrual pain leave for female students and working women under the provisions of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961.

Earlier, Tripathi had filed a similar plea before the Supreme Court seeking directions on the issue. However, the court had asked him to approach the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD), which could take an appropriate decision in the matter.

After complying with the court’s order, Tripathi submitted a representation to the WCD but did not receive any relief, following which he approached the Supreme Court again seeking redressal of his prayers.

The petitioner has sought directions that during the menstrual period, if a woman suffers pain or other physical discomfort that makes it difficult for her to continue with her normal activities at the workplace, her request for leave or other suitable relief should be considered without discrimination, subject to reasonable and dignified conditions, keeping in mind that the issue concerns women’s privacy.

He also stressed that India has signed and ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which recognises the need for non-discriminatory practices and for treating women with dignity.

“Spain has recently enacted a law to introduce menstrual leave, thereby addressing the problem of menstrual pain. Vietnam has also enacted and implemented menstrual leave policies. Countries like the United Kingdom, Wales, China, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea and Zambia have different policies or laws on the grant of menstrual leave,” he added in his PIL.