Supreme Court says paid menstrual leave will end women’s careers, calls PIL a bid to ‘instil fear’

Dismissing PIL, SC said: 'This is only to create impression in young women that you have some natural issues, and are not at par with males, and you cannot work like them during a particular time.'

Illustration: Shruti Naithani | ThePrint

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday said mandating employers to allow paid menstrual leave for women would lead to a situation where no one will assign them work, or even hire them. “The moment you say compulsory in law, nobody will give them jobs, nobody will take them in judiciary or government jobs. Their career is over,” the court said.

The petition referred to heavy bleeding, debilitating cramps, and a profound impact on a woman’s mental and physical well being as significant challenges that menstruating women face.

Dismissing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi which sought directions to different states to come up with a paid leave policy, a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant along with Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that there could be adverse and harmful consequences for working women, if the law started mandating paid menstrual leaves.

“You are not a bona fide petitioner. This is only to create an impression in young women that you have some natural issues, and are not at par with males, and that you cannot work like them during a particular time,” the CJI said.

Pointing out that “giving in” to the demand for menstrual leave could “harm” the working women, the CJI said, “Nobody will assign them responsibilities in the judicial service, government posts.”

When asked what prompted him to file a plea on behalf of menstruating women, Tripathi told ThePrint, “I had seen this problem among several of my family members and even friends. Being a member of the Supreme Court Bar Association, I filed this PIL as a responsible citizen.”

 

Tripathi added, “I also thought if my efforts could lead to a little less suffering for many working women, why not take the initiative?”

 

He told ThePrint, the court today has made it clear that the onus currently lies on the Centre and all states to come up with their own policies on menstrual leave.

Although senior advocate M. R. Shamshad, who was representing the petitioner, had informed the court about states like Kerala, which in 2023, had come up with a policy for paid menstrual leave for working women and female students, the court said, “These are just voluntary measures, the minute you make it mandatory, their chances of employment will suffer”.

Significantly, the plea raised several important issues. The menstrual status of women is not only a personal right, but is also intrinsic to her privacy, and should be treated with dignity, without discrimination, the plea said, adding that the government must come out with measures to provide relief to menstruating women.

To reach their work place, many women have to commute for hours and during this, the plea said, “they not only face the physical pain of standing in queues and public transport vehicles, but are also distressed over hygiene and well-being”.

The plea said, given that women endure so much pain during menstruation, they should be allowed leave to cope with it, something that would also ensure their right to dignity under Article 21.

Similar pleas in the past

This is not the first time such a plea has been filed before the top court. In 2023 and 2024, Tripathi, had filed similar petitions before the top court.

Essentially, all these pleas sought a direction to all state governments to come up with a policy for menstrual pain leave for female students and working women under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. However, while dealing with the first such case, the court had said that a representation (complaint) should be filed before the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

In January 2024, the Supreme Court had once again disposed of the petition, saying, “We request the Secretary in the Union Ministry of Women and Child development to look into the matter at the policy level after due consultation with all stakeholders.” The court had added that the Centre could consider if it was appropriate to frame a model policy for all stakeholders.

Apart from this, Tripathi also said in his plea that he had made a representation to the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD), but got no response from the Centre or states, except Karnataka and Odisha.

What laws were invoked

Pointing to statutes or laws like the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, which allow paid maternity leave for women, the plea said that to provide “inclusive justice” to all citizens, the Constitution should provide women the fundamental right to live a dignified life, as per their wish, and without any compulsion.

“The Parliament enacted a law like the Maternity Benefit Act, so that the objectives of the Constitution are provided to citizens without any discrimination on the basis of gender,” the petition also stated.

Recently, on January 30, a bench of Justices J. B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan ruled that the right to menstrual health is a fundamental facet of Article 21. Such a right includes the right to affordable menstrual hygiene management measures like free sanitary pads in government-aided or residential schools along with clean toilets.

“The right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution includes the right to menstrual health. Access to safe, effective, and affordable menstrual hygiene management measures helps a girl child attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. The right to healthy reproductive life embraces the right to access education and information about sexual health,” the court had ruled in its January judgment.

Situation in different states 

Broadly, the plea drew on examples from states like Odisha and Karnataka, and said that their governments had introduced menstrual leave policies, granting up to 12 paid menstrual leaves in a year for women employees.

While Odisha had in 2024 approved a policy for menstrual leave for government employees under 55 years of age, Karnataka in 2025 became the first state to extend this policy to private sector employees as well, the plea said.

Apart from this, the Bihar government in 1992 had also extended menstrual leaves up to 2 days in a month for women, and Cochin, while it was still a princely state in 1912, allowed students to take period leaves during examinations, even allowing them to take the exam later, the plea said.

More recently, the Kerala government allowed menstrual leave for all working women, in both government and private establishments, between the ages of 18 and 52.

Looking beyond domestic shores, the plea also pointed to countries like Spain, Vietnam, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea, noting that they all had different policies on the grant of menstrual leave.

Finally, the plea sought from the court a direction to states and UTs and even the Centre, asking them to come up with similar policies or laws that take into account the problems faced by women during menstruation, like endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, andadenomyosis, among others.

(Edited by Viny Mishra)