The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Commissioner of Delhi Police to undertake a comprehensive infrastructure survey of all police stations across the national capital to identify stations lacking exclusive washrooms and sanitary pad vending machines for women police personnel, and to ensure that such facilities are established in those stations.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia ordered that the survey be completed within six weeks. Based on the findings of the survey, the Delhi Police has been directed to take appropriate administrative measures to provide every police station with dedicated washrooms for the exclusive use of women personnel and install sanitary pad vending machines wherever such facilities are unavailable.
The Bench further directed the Delhi Police to file a compliance affidavit before the next date of hearing, setting out the steps taken during the intervening period to implement the Court’s directions and achieve compliance.
The directions were issued while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Justice for Rights Foundation through its Women Cell representative, Muskan Singh Bankura.
The PIL relied on information obtained under the Right to Information Act, 2005, which allegedly revealed the widespread absence of basic menstrual hygiene infrastructure at police stations in Delhi. The petition stated that a significant number of police stations did not have functional sanitary pad vending machines, menstrual waste incinerators or dedicated budgetary allocations for menstrual hygiene management and related infrastructure.
The petitioner contended that requiring thousands of women police personnel to discharge their official duties without access to clean and private washrooms or basic menstrual hygiene facilities amounts to a denial of dignified and humane working conditions. It was argued that the absence of such infrastructure adversely affects the health, privacy, dignity and overall well-being of women personnel and infringes their fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution, which protect equality before law, prohibit gender-based discrimination and guarantee the right to life, dignity and privacy.
The petition further submitted that the availability of menstrual hygiene infrastructure is an integral component of gender-sensitive policing and workplace welfare. It drew the Court’s attention to similar initiatives implemented by other law enforcement agencies, including the Mumbai Police’s Smart Maitrin project, as well as facilities provided to personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Leh District Police, to demonstrate that such measures are administratively feasible and capable of being replicated across Delhi Police establishments.
Taking note of the issues raised in the PIL, the High Court directed the Delhi Police to assess the existing infrastructure at every police station, identify deficiencies and ensure the creation of adequate menstrual hygiene facilities for women personnel. The Court underscored the need to provide safe, hygienic and dignified workplace conditions for women serving in the police force and sought a detailed compliance report on the progress made in implementing its directions before the next hearing.
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