Kerala High Court Strikes Down Ban on Women Working in Toddy Shops

The Kerala High Court has struck down the rule that barred women from working in toddy shops, holding that the ban violated the equality, non discrimination, occupation and life provisions of the Indian Constitution, Articles 14, 15, 19 and 21.

The case is Sophy v State of Kerala. Justice Gopinath P ruled that the state cannot defend a complete ban on women's employment in toddy shops by pointing to safety. The court's answer runs the other way: the state must build a safe workplace, not close the job. LiveLaw and Bar and Bench both reported the judgment on Thursday, October 29.

"For the sake of reiteration, it may be stated that while the State has an obligation to ensure that women are not subjected to harassment and must have a safe environment to work, such a responsibility on the State machinery cannot be achieved by prohibiting women from working in whatever industry they choose to work," the court said, in the passage quoted by both outlets.

How the case reached the court

Sophy's husband, K. J. Kunjupalu, worked at a toddy shop in Ponjanam, Thrissur. He died on May 20, 2024. Sophy then sought the same work on compassionate grounds. Her request was rejected because Rule 7(37) of the Kerala Abkari Shops Disposal Rules, 2002 barred the employment of women in any capacity in toddy shops. She challenged the rule itself, not only her rejection.

The government defended the ban on safety grounds and pointed to older cases that had upheld limits on women working as night watchmen, shed clerks, shore workers and in jails. The court distinguished those rulings. In those cases, the court said, the jobs carried specific hazards that justified a limit. No such material was placed before it for toddy shops. A general claim about safety, without that record, could not carry a total prohibition.

What the order does

The court struck the rule down and directed that Sophy's claim for compassionate appointment be considered without it. It also held that any license condition for a toddy shop that rests on the struck rule cannot stand. The practical effect reaches past one applicant. License holders can no longer be required to keep women out of these shops, and women seeking the work cannot be turned away on the basis of the 2002 rule.

Why it matters

Toddy tapping and toddy shop work are old, regulated trades in Kerala, and the 2002 rule wrote one group's exclusion into the licensing system itself. The judgment matters because it rejects protection as a reason for exclusion, a pattern that has kept women out of night work, factory work and transport work in many states. The court did not dismiss safety. It reassigned it. Safety is the state's job to provide at the workplace, not a ground to deny the job at the gate.

What happens next

The state must now process Sophy's application under the new position, and licensing practice in the state has to drop the condition the judgment voided. Whether the state appeals will be the next legal step to watch. No appeal had been reported by Thursday evening.