Despite being a natural biological process, menstruation is intrinsically connected to women's reproductive and physical health, which continues to remain stigmatised within Indian society and inadequately addressed within constitutional and labour frameworks. The absence of comprehensive menstrual leave policies in India, therefore, reflects broader structural inequalities relating to workplace accommodation, reproductive dignity, public health, and gender equality. Significant developments have transformed menstrual health from a matter of welfare discourse into an issue of constitutional and socio-legal importance in recent years. The Karnataka Government's decision to give paid menstrual leave across both public and private sectors, along with the Supreme Court's judgement of menstrual health as a facet of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21of the Constitution of India in Dr. Jaya Thakur v. Union of India, marks an important shift in the legal understanding of menstrual justice. This paper demonstrates a socio-legal analysis of menstrual leave in India by examining the intersection between constitutional frameworks, labour rights, workplace justice, public health, and cultural perceptions regarding menstruation. This article also analyses international frameworks, which include reports and standards developed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), World Health Organisation (WHO), and international human rights instruments, and also compares menstrual leave models adopted in countries like Japan, Spain, Indonesia, South Korea, Zambia, and Taiwan. The paper further examines the Indian constitutional framework under Articles 14, 15(3), 21, and 42 of the Constitution, with emphasis on equality, dignity jurisprudence, reproductive autonomy, and workplace accommodation.

The paper also engages with recent socio-economic realities, which include the Beed uterus-removal crisis involving female sugarcane workers in Maharashtra, to show how the absence of menstrual accommodation and exploitative labour practices burden women, especially those employed within the informal sector. Eventually, the paper revisits cultural traditions of India, like the Ambubachi Mela, to establish that menstruation was historically recognised within certain indigenous and spiritual traditions as a natural and dignified aspect of womanhood, which exposes the contradiction between cultural symbolism and present-day social stigma. While acknowledging concerns of workplace discrimination, privacy, and gender stereotyping, the paper eventually argues that menstrual leave should not merely be viewed as a form of preferential treatment, but as a constitutionally protected mechanism for ensuring equality, dignified working conditions, and gender-sensitive labour governance. The paper then concludes by advocating for a comprehensive national framework that incorporates paid menstrual leave, flexible work arrangements, menstrual health infrastructure, awareness programmes, and inclusive workplace policies that aim at advancing women's health, equality, and workplace participation in India.