In a country where women make up nearly half the population, but occupy barely a fraction of seats in Parliament, even the promise of equality seems to come with a waiting period.

On Monday, the Supreme Court began hearing a petition that strikes at the heart of this paradox challenging delays in the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Act, which promises 33 per cent representation for women in legislatures, but only after a future census and delimitation exercise, whose timelines remain uncertain.

A Bench of Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice R. Mahadevan issued a notice to the Union government, seeking its response on why the implementation of the long-awaited reservation for women has been linked to a future exercise whose timeline remains uncertain.

"Preamble says all citizen

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