BENGALURU: A group of 15 women professionals have filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court challenging the state government notification granting one day of paid menstrual leave per month to working women.
The women, employed in various organisations in the state, filed the plea on March 23, seeking to quash the government notification dated November 20, 2025.
They have termed the policy “unconstitutional, discriminatory and violative” of Article 14, 15, 16, and 21 of the Constitution.
The petition also seeks an interim order to stay the operation of the notification.
The government’s notification grants one day paid menstrual leave to all female employees.
The petition has been listed before the bench of Justice Anant Ramanath Hegde, which is already hearing similar petitions challenging the same notification. The matter has been posted for further hearing by the judge to April 1.
The petitioners have argued that the policy is a clear instance of “benevolent sexism”, where measures, though appearing protective, are rooted in paternalistic stereotypical assumptions about women’s capabilities, portraying them as weaker and less reliable employees, according to sources. They further claimed that it reinforces biases that women have fought for decades to overcome and will inevitably lead to discrimination against women in hiring and promotion.
