Women commission vacancies: Delhi High Court seeks response from govt

The Delhi High Court (HC) on Wednesday sought the Delhi Government’s response regarding the steps taken by it to fill vacant posts of chairperson and members in the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW).

In its order, the Bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia observed, “The commission performs certain important functions for the welfare of women. In view of the functions assigned to the commission under Section 10 of The Delhi Commission for Women Act, 1994, there cannot be any reason whatsoever for not filling up the vacancies in the office of the chairperson and members, and for not providing adequate staff to the DCW.”

“Let instructions be sought by the Delhi Government counsel as to what steps have been taken by the authorities to fill up the vacant posts and ensure that the commission does not close down. List next Wednesday,” said the HC order.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Buxar MP Sudhakar Singh seeking direction to the Delhi Government to ensure that the vacant posts of chairperson and members of the DCW were filled within a time-bound period. The petitioner’s lawyer said the DCW had been “closed” since January 24 since there were no members or staff. The government’s counsel said he had to verify the claim made in the PIL.

The petitioner contended that it was ironic that despite Delhi having a woman CM, the commission which worked for the welfare and safety of women had been non-functional. “The paralysis of the DCW has led to the disruption and non-functioning of its statutory programmes and mechanisms, including the Sahyogini Family Counselling Unit, Helpdesk, Rape Crisis Cell, Crisis Intervention Centres, Mobile Helpline, Mahila Panchayat Programme and Women Helpline 181, resulting in a cascading failure of the protective framework envisaged for women in distress,” read the petition.

“The urgency of the present petition is underscored by official crime data. As per the Crime in India-2023 report released in September 2025 by the National Crime Records Bureau, Delhi recorded over 13,000 crimes against women in 2023, the highest among metropolitan cities. This included more than 1,000 rape cases. In a city facing such levels of gender-based violence, the continued paralysis of the statutory body specifically created to protect women aggravates vulnerability and results in denial of access to justice,” it added.