By the Court.—The petition has been filed in the public interest by a practising Advocate in order to raise two concerns relating to the issuance of ration cards under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (the Act). The first issue relates to the validity of the provisions of Section 13 of the Act on the ground that the statutory provision while recognizing the eldest woman member as the head of the household does not contemplate a situation where there may be no woman in the family.

2. In order to appreciate this grievance, we extract hereinbelow the provisions of Section 13 of the Act:

“13. Women of eighteen years of age or above to be head of household for purpose of issue of ration cards.—(1) The eldest woman who is not less than eighteen years of age, in every eligible household, shall be head of the household for the purpose of issue of ration cards.

(2) Where a household at any time does not have a woman or a woman of eighteen years of age or above, but has a female member below the age of eighteen years, then, the eldest male member of the household shall be the head of the household for the purpose of issue of ration card and the female member, on attaining the ag