The Kerala High Court has struck down the rules which prohibited women from working in toddy shops. (AI-generated Image)

In a progressive ruling, the Kerala High Court struck down a legal provision that prohibited the employment of women in state-run toddy shops, holding that such a restriction violated their fundamental rights in the Constitution.

Justice P Gopinath held Rule 7(37) (prohibiting the employment of women in toddy shops in the state) of the Kerala Abkari Shops Disposal Rules, 2002, as unconstitutional and struck it down in an August ruling. The judgment came on the plea of one Sophy, who had challenged the rejection of her application for compassionate appointment in a toddy shop in Thrissur district after her husband passed away.…