New Delhi, Nov 28 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice on a petition filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) seeking nationwide binding guidelines to safeguard the privacy, dignity, bodily autonomy and health of women who are menstruating or facing gynaecological issues at workplaces and educational institutions.
The petition was moved following disturbing reports from Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Haryana, where women sanitation workers were allegedly subjected to humiliating physical checks to verify if they were menstruating.
A Bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice R. Mahadevan commended the SCBA for bringing the matter to the Court.
Justice Nagarathna observed that if a worker was unable to perform heavy tasks due to menstruation, the employer should have simply reassigned the work.
“If someone is saying heavy work cannot be done for this reason, it could have been accepted, and another person deployed.
We hope something good will happen with this petition,” she remarked.
During the hearing, SCBA President Senior Advocate Vikas Singh submitted that similar incidents were being reported from other States as well.
“This can’t be tolerated. Let them respond. I am thinking of what guidelines can be adopted for the entire country. This is a serious issue, and one that nobody wants to talk about,” he said.
Justice Nagarathna commented that the episode “shows the mindset of these people,” noting news reports that Karnataka was considering a monthly period leave policy.
“I was just thinking, will they ask to prove that you are on your period to take the leave?” she said.
The State of Haryana informed the Court that it had initiated an inquiry and taken action against two persons, including the Assistant Registrar who headed the administration.
The two supervisors, hired on contract through an agency, have been referred for termination, and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been invoked.
The Court issued notices to the union of India and the State of Haryana, listing the matter for further hearing next week.
The PIL, filed through AoR Pragya Baghel, highlights recent and past instances of women and girls being subjected to invasive and degrading “menstruation checks” across India.
The plea argues that such actions violate women’s rights under Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution.
The immediate trigger for the petition was the October 26, 2025, incident at MDU, Rohtak, where three female sanitation workers were allegedly forced by supervisors to provide photographic proof of menstruation after they reported feeling unwell.
The incident occurred on a Sunday, coinciding with a visit by the Haryana Governor.
In their complaint to the University Registrar, the workers stated they were verbally abused, humiliated, and pressured until they were compelled to take photographs of their sanitary pads inside the washroom.
Calling the episode “grossly violative” of dignity and privacy, the SCBA said it reflected a wider pattern of institutionalised misogyny and ignorance about women’s health.
The petition stresses that women, particularly those in unorganised sectors, must be provided with dignified working conditions that respect their biological realities instead of subjecting them to humiliation or intrusive scrutiny.
Concluding, the SCBA urged the Supreme Court to affirm that respect for women’s dignity and bodily autonomy is not merely a moral obligation but a constitutional mandate.
