Delhi HC issues notice on PIL seeking menstrual hygiene infrastructure in police stationsNew Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday agreed to examine a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking installation and maintenance of sanitary pad vending machines and other menstrual hygiene facilities across police stations in the national capital. A division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia issued notice to the respondents, including the Delhi Police, and directed the Commissioner of Police to conduct a survey of all police stations in Delhi to ascertain the availability of functional sanitary pad vending machines. It further claimed that the RTI replies disclosed the absence of any budgetary allocation, policy, circular, standing order or institutional mechanism governing the provision of menstrual hygiene infrastructure for women police personnel. “Menstruation is an inevitable biological process and access to adequate menstrual hygiene facilities is an essential facet of health, dignity, privacy and sanitation, and an inseparable component of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution,” the petition said. Advocates Karnika Bahuguna, Pooja Kushwaha, and Vipasha Jain appeared on behalf of the Justice for Rights Foundation.