ForumIAS LATEST
- SFG FRC 2027 | Program starts from 19th Dec. 2026 | Admissions open for Entrance Test Click Here to know more →
- Prelims Test Series (PTS) for Prelims 2027 starts 11th Oct. 2026 Click Here to know more →
- [Pre-order] Ethics Redbook 3rd Edition: Delivery starts from 10th October onwards Click Here to Read More →
- 21 Sept. | GS Advance Program (GSAP) for UPSC 2027 Mains starts from 11th Oct. Click Here to Read More →
News: The Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment while hearing a case on nationwide implementation of the Centre’s menstrual hygiene policy for school-going girls.
About Menstrual Hygiene as a Fundamental Right
- The Supreme Court held that the right to menstrual hygiene and access to related products is part of the right to life under Article 21.
- Case Background: The judgment was delivered by a Bench of Justices J. B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan during a hearing related to menstrual hygiene in schools.
- Supreme Court Observation
- Article 21 (Dignity and Privacy): The Court ruled that dignity cannot remain an abstract idea and must include conditions that prevent humiliation, exclusion, and avoidable suffering.
- Forcing girls to choose between education and menstruation violates the right to live with dignity.
- Article 14 (Substantive Equality): The SC observed that equal treatment without addressing existing disadvantages perpetuates inequality.
- The absence of menstrual hygiene facilities converts a biological reality into structural exclusion.
- Article 21A (Right to Education): Lack of menstrual hygiene facilities acts as an infrastructural barrier to education.
- Removing this barrier is necessary to make education truly free, compulsory, and accessible.
- Article 21 (Dignity and Privacy): The Court ruled that dignity cannot remain an abstract idea and must include conditions that prevent humiliation, exclusion, and avoidable suffering.
