On Monday (8th July), the Supreme Court rejected a petition for menstrual leave for female employees saying that this may prove counterproductive for women. The court, however, directed the central government to hold discussions with all key stakeholders and states to set up a model policy on this issue.
A bench comprising CJI D Y Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Mishra stated that while the policy may encourage more women to participate in the workforce, it may also discourage companies from hiring women. It is a policy decision that the central and state governments may address.
The bench noted this while hearing a petition filed by Shailendra Tripathi. The court emphasised that menstrual leave is a policy matter for the central and state governments. However, the court asked the Secretary of the Ministry of Women and Child Development to look into the matter.
“How that leave encourages more women to be part of the workforce and mandating such leaves will lead to women being shunned from workforce… we do not want that. What we try to do to protect woman can act to their disadvantage. This is actually a government policy aspect and not for the courts to look into,” CJI Chandrachud said.
While the Court urged the Centre to confer with state governments as well, it underlined that the current ruling does not restrict states from making independent decisions about menstruation leave.
Notably, in February last year, the Court dismissed a petition seeking menstrual discomfort leave for female students and working women across India, but allowed petitioners to make a representation to the Central Government.
It is worth recalling that former Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani had last year opposed the idea of allowing paid leaves to women during their periods. She said that she opposed the Menstrual Hygiene Policy as she did not want women to face discrimination and harassment in the workplace over it.
