SC refuses to entertain PIL seeking menstrual pain leave for female students, working women

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a PIL for a direction to all the state governments to frame rules for menstrual pain leaves for female students and working women, saying it is a matter of policy.

A bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala asked advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi, who filed the plea, to approach the Ministry of Women and Child Development with his plea.

The bench agreed with a contention of an intervenor that if you compelled the employers to grant menstrual leave, it may disincentivise them to hire women employees.

"This is a policy matter, so we are not dealing with it," the bench said.

Read | No proposal to introduce menstruation leave in educational institutions: Education Ministry

The plea said menstrual periods have been largely disregarded by society, the government, and other stakeholders, but some organisations and state governments have taken notice of it.

The State of Bihar introduced menstrual leave for women employees in 1992, it said.

"A few states provided menstrual pain leaves and ancillary benefits, women in their counterpart states are still bereft of any such benefits. It is accordingly a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution inasmuch as the Maternity Benefit Act differentiates women in the name of federalism and state policies," the plea said.

"Despite the fact that women suffer from similar physiological and health issues during their menstrual cycles, they are being treated differently in different states of India," it added.

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 per cent 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.