The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Delhi government what steps it had taken to fill vacant posts of chairperson and members of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW). A Bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia said, “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 DCW.” The court ordered the Delhi government to provide instructions on what steps are being taken to fill these posts and ensure the commission stays operational. The next hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. This came during a public interest litigation filed by Buxar MP Sudhakar Singh. He demanded the posts of chairperson and members be filled within a fixed time. The petitioner's lawyer said DCW had been “closed” since January 24 due to lack of members and staff. The Delhi government counsel said he would verify this claim. The petitioner said, “It is an irony that in spite of a woman Chief Minister, the commission, which works towards the welfare and safety of women, was non-functional even in the face of data on crime against women.” The petition stated that the paralysis of DCW disrupted many key programs. These include the Sahyogini Family Counselling Unit, Helpdesk, Rape Crisis Cell, Crisis Intervention Centres, Mobile Helpline, Mahila Panchayat programme, and Women Helpline 181. This failure hurt the protection system for women in distress. Official data from the Crime in India 2023 report by National Crime Records Bureau shows Delhi recorded over 13,000 crimes against women last year. This was the highest among all metro cities and included over 1,000 rape cases. The petition stressed, “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.”