Delhi HC pulls up govt over vacancies in DCW, DCPCR

Observing that the DCW performs vital functions, the bench said, “There cannot be any reason whatsoever for not filling the vacancy of a member, chairperson and providing adequate staff.”

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday pulled up the government for failing to fill vacancies in the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), noting that the body has remained non-functional since January 2024.

The continued non-functioning of the DCW significantly hampered the protection and enforcement of women’s rights, the plea said.

“What have you done? What is all this? This is January 2024, it has been 2 years,” a bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia asked the counsel for the Delhi government, directing that the court be updated on the steps the authorities have taken “to fill the vacancies and to ensure that the DCW is functional”.

Observing that the DCW performs vital functions for the “welfare of women”, said the bench. “There cannot be any reason whatsoever for not filling the vacancy of a member, chairperson and providing adequate staff.”

The post of chairperson has remained vacant since Swati Maliwal was elected to the Rajya Sabha in January 2024. Then, in May of the same year, the women and child development department ordered the removal of more than 200 contractual staff members, citing irregularities in their recruitment process.

On Wednesday, the court was hearing a petition filed by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Sudhakar Singh on the matter of the vacancies and non-functioning of the DCW.

Singh’s petition contended that the DCW is entrusted with a number of crucial statutory functions, including reviewing constitutional and legal safeguards for women and recommending measures for their effective implementation; inquiring into complaints concerning deprivation of women’s rights, non-implementation of protective laws, and non-compliance with welfare policies and guidelines; and initiating suo motu action in cases involving violations of women’s rights.

As a result, the continued non-functioning of the DCW has significantly hampered the protection and enforcement of women’s rights in the national capital, Singh said in the petition.

The vacancy in the chairperson’s post, Singh said, has resulted in the collapse of essential services such as family counselling units and the rape crisis cell. This inaction violated woman’s right to equality, life and personal liberty.

The matter has been listed next for February 25.

Vacancies on DCPCR

The same bench, while hearing a separate petition highlighting vacancies in the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR), on Wednesday asked the Delhi government to fill them by the second week of April.

The court, however, questioned the government’s justification for a delay of over two-and-a-half years. This came after the court considered an affidavit filed by the city government in response to its February 6 direction seeking a timeline for filling the vacancies in July 2023. In the affidavit, the government said that the selection process was likely to conclude by the second week of April. It said that the time taken was necessary to ensure transparency, fairness, and the selection of the most suitable candidates.

The bench observed that if the government was relying on such grounds to justify the delay, it ought to reconsider its position, emphasising that the DCPCR is a statutory body created under an enactment and that the state government is bound by a legislative mandate.