Delhi High Court Asks Govt To Take Decision On 50 % Women Reservation In Delhi Medical Council

A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia passed the order on September 30 on a public interest litigation by Dr Anju Gambhir seeking "equitable and meaningful representation" of female medicine practitioners in the council.

Noting that the DMC is constituted under the Delhi Medical Council Act, 1997, which does not provide for reservation for women, either in elections or in nominations, the court said it cannot direct the authorities to provide such a quota.

"The petitioner has, however, already represented her cause by making a representation, which is engaging the attention of various functionaries of the state government," noted the Court.

"We dispose of the present petition with a direction to the state government and its concerned functionaries to consider the prayer of the petitioner and an appropriate decision thereof, with expedition," it ordered.

Besides the DMC, the petitioner also sought reservation for women in the Delhi Medical Association.

Represented by Advocates Rupesh Dutta and Snehlata Chaturvedi, the petitioner said that DMC lacks adequate diversity and representation despite women constituting a significant portion of the medical workforce, resulting in the exclusion of their voices in crucial decision-making on various issues.

"Notwithstanding the significant increase in the number of registered women practitioners, their presence in health regulatory bodies remains minimal, resulting in a persistent gap between the profession's gender composition and the composition of the bodies that regulate and represent it," the plea contended.

"The Executive Committee and other internal committees of the DMC, including the Executive, Disciplinary, Anti-Quackery, Finance, and Land & Building Committees, continue to be dominated by male members, leaving women medical practitioners without adequate voice in crucial decision-making processes, including on issues such as workplace safety, maternity protection, and gender-sensitive institutional policy," it added.