Bengaluru, 28 March

A group of 15 women professionals has 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 the State, filed the plea on 23 March, seeking to quash the government notification dated 20 November 2025.

They termed the policy "unconstitutional, discriminatory and violated" Articles 14, 15, 16, and 21 of the Constitution.

The petition also seeks an interim order to stay the notification.

The government's notification grants one-day paid menstrual leave to all female employees.

The petition has been listed before Justice Anant Ramanath Hegde, who is already hearing petitions challenging the notification.

The matter has been posted for hearing on 1 April.

The petitioners argued that the policy is a clear case of "benevolent sexism,” where measures, although appearing protective, are rooted in paternalistic stereotypical assumptions about women, portraying them as weaker and less reliable, sources said.

They claimed that it reinforces biases that women have fought for decades and will inevitably lead to discrimination against women in hiring and promotion.