Rajya Sabha MP revives call for National Commission for Men after Ketan murder

Rajya Sabha MP and Lovely Professional University founder Ashok Kumar Mittal has renewed his demand for a “National Commission for Men”, citing the Pune case involving the alleged murder of 26-year-old Ketan Agarwal, in which his fiancée Siya Goyal and her friend Chetan Chaudhary have been arrested.

Mittal cites Pune case

Calling the case deeply disturbing, Mittal on Saturday (July 4) shared a video of the Rajya Sabha proceedings from December 2025, when he introduced a private member’s bill seeking the creation of such a commission. Elected from Punjab, he was with the AAP at the time and, in April this year, claimed a “merger” into the BJP as part of a group of seven AAP MPs led by Raghav Chadha.

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“The Ketan case is a reminder that men, too, can be victims,” Mittal wrote on X. “They deserve institutional support, legal protection, and a platform where their voices are heard. Justice must be equal for everyone, irrespective of gender.”

Private members’ bills rarely make it to the voting stage. Since Independence, only 14 such bills have become law, and none has been passed by both Houses of Parliament since 1970.

The National Commission for Men Bill, 2025, is listed on the Rajya Sabha website with its status marked as “introduced” on December 5, 2025.

What the bill proposes

Rights of men: The bill seeks to establish a National Commission for Men to safeguard the “rights and welfare of men” and to “inquire into grievances”. It proposes a statutory framework that would “review existing laws and policies affecting men” while promoting “preventive outreach on issues impacting men’s physical, mental and social well-being”.

Who’ll be members? The commission would be headed by a chairperson and vice-chairperson, both of whom must be persons “of eminence in the field of law, public administration, gender studies, sociology, psychology, or social work” with at least 15 years of relevant experience. The bill also requires that the commission include at least one member from the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes and at least one person below the age of 40 years. While conducting inquiries, the commission would have the powers of a civil court.

How it should work: One of the commission’s primary responsibilities would be to investigate and examine all matters related to the “violation or deprivation of rights of men” guaranteed under the Constitution. It would also be empowered to “undertake or sponsor research, studies, and data collection” on key issues including “male suicide rates, health disparities, unemployment, custodial rights, and domestic abuse”.

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For support and counselling: To help “men in distress”, the commission would be responsible for providing direct legal aid, counselling, or rehabilitation services. It would also be required to develop and promote educational programmes and awareness campaigns, in consultation with academic bodies such as the CBSE, NCERT, and UGC, to “foster gender sensitivity”, promote the “values of healthy masculinity”, and encourage “emotional intelligence, mental well-being, and non-violence” among young men in educational institutions.

Continued protection for women: The bill clearly states that nothing in its provisions should be “construed as limiting or affecting the rights and protections accorded to women” under any existing law. It also says the commission cannot intervene in any complaint where a woman is the complainant unless a competent court has formally declared the complaint to be “false, malicious, or an abuse of legal process”.