New Delhi, Nov 28 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Friday sought responses from the Centre and the Haryana government on a petition highlighting the alleged humiliation of three female sanitation workers at Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) in Rohtak, who were reportedly forced to furnish photographic proof of menstruation to their supervisors.  A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan issued notice on the writ petition filed by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) under Article 32 of the Constitution. The matter, now scheduled for hearing on December 15, raises concerns about protecting women’s rights to health, dignity, privacy, and bodily autonomy in workplaces and educational institutions during menstruation or related gynaecological issues.

The plea stems from an incident reported on October 26, when the three sanitation workers -- called in on a Sunday due to the visit of the Haryana Governor -- were allegedly "verbally abused, humiliated and pressured" by supervisors hired through the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam Limited.  According to the petition, the supervisors "demanded photographic proof from the workers by asking them to send photos of their sanitary pads".  During the hearing, Justice Nagarathna-led Bench remarked that the episode reflected "a mindset" that was deeply troubling. 

"In Karnataka, they are giving period leave. After reading this, I thought — will they ask for proof for giving the leave?" observed Justice Nagarathna.  "This shows the mentality of the person. If some heavy work could not be done because of their absence, somebody else could have been deployed," the apex court added, expressing hope that "something good will happen in this petition". Following the incident, the MDU had suspended the two supervisors and initiated an internal inquiry. The Haryana State Commission for Women also took suo motu cognisance and sought reports from the varsity administration and the Rohtak police. 

The Assistant Registrar and the two supervisors were subsequently booked under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to assault and outraging the modesty of a woman. Calling the episode “disturbing”, the SCBA in its petition said such acts amounted to a violation of the women’s fundamental right to life, dignity, privacy and bodily integrity under Article 21. The plea also referred to similar instances of "period-shaming" and invasive checks in schools and workplaces over the years, including a 2017 case where 70 girls in Uttar Pradesh were allegedly stripped naked to check for menstrual blood, and a 2020 incident in Gujarat where 68 college students were asked to remove their underwear for inspection. 

Filed through advocate Pragya Baghel, the petition has sought directions to the Centre and the Haryana government to conduct a detailed inquiry into the Rohtak incident and issue nationwide guidelines "to ensure that the right to health, dignity, bodily autonomy and privacy of women and girls is not violated when they are going through menstruation and related gynaecological issues at workplaces and educational institutions".