NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday said it is upto the Centre and state governments to decide whether they should be a policy for menstrual leave for female students and women in their workforce.
A bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said issues are whether such a leave encouraged women to be part of workforce or mandating such a leave could mean women being shunned from being employed.
"This is actually government policy aspect and not for the courts to look into," the bench said.
Advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi filed the PIL, seeking the court's direction for allowing monthly leave for female students and working women at their respective workplaces during their menstrual period across the country.
In its order, the court noted that though a representation was submitted by the petitioner to the Centre in May, 2023, nothing final been decided so far.
"Since issues raised here were related to multifarious objectives of state policy, there was no reason for this court to intervene," the bench said.
The court, however, asked the Centre and States to look into the issue whether they can formulate a model policy or not on the issue.
"We permit the petitioner to move the Secretary in the Ministry of Women, and Child Development and to ASG Aishwarya Bhati. We request the Secretary to look into the matter at the policy level and take a decision after consulting all stakeholders and see if a model policy can be framed," the bench said in its order.
It also made it clear on its order that this order will not stand in the way for state government taking steps in this regard.
Tripathi contended that despite making all the provisions in the law to take care of women in difficult stages of their maternity, the very first stage of the maternity, the menstrual period has been knowingly or unknowingly ignored by the society.
"Bihar is the only state in India which has been providing two days of special menstrual pain leave to women since 1992," he said.
"In 1912, the Government Girls School in Tripunithura, located in the erstwhile princely state of Cochin (present Ernakulam district), had allowed students to take 'period leave' during the time of their annual examination and permitted them to write it later," the plea said.
The plea pointed out there are several companies, especially startups, in India which are offering period leave, even without any legal obligation.
"This portrays that rather than the deep pockets of the company, the will to change the world matters more," it added.
The plea also said countries like the United Kingdom, Wales, China, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea, Spain, and Zambia, which are already providing with menstrual pain leave in one form or another.
The Endometriosis Society, India suggested that over 25 million women suffered from endometriosis, a condition that makes period pain so bad that women may pass out from it, the plea pointed out.
The Clinical Evidence Handbook pointed out 20% of women suffered from symptoms like cramps, nausea, etc that are debilitating enough to hamper daily activities. A research by the University College London revealed that the amount of pain a female goes through while menstruating is equivalent to the pain a person experiences during a heart attack, the plea added.
