supreme court

Menstrual Leaves Should No Longer Be Up for Debate

Parika Singh032 views

The Karnataka government’s proposal to allocate 6 days of menstrual leave per year for women in the public and private sector will reopen debate and discussions on its requirement in the workplace. The absence of National Legislation in India that provides for menstrual leaves to working women is a pivotal indicator of the status accorded to women’s issues and needs in parliament. 77 years after independence, we have three other states- Bihar, Kerala, and Orissa, and a handful of private companies such as Swiggy, Zomato, Magzter, etc, which have taken steps to acknowledge and extend support for this universal biological phenomenon.

Read more

The Shrinking Public Spaces For Children: The Fear After The Kolkata Rape Case And The Potential Over-Reliance On Screens

Editor023 views

The recent Kolkata rape case has reignited discussions around the safety of public spaces, particularly for women and girls, in India. The brutal nature of the crime has left the nation grappling with the pervasive fear that drives families to confine their children indoors in the name of protection. But this confinement, while intended to keep them safe, may expose them to another set of dangers in the digital realm. I wonder what kind of future we are crafting for the next generation—a future where their access to physical spaces is restricted due to safety fears, and where their increasing reliance on digital spaces exposes them to the predatory practices of big tech?

Read more

Kolkata Rape And Murder Suo Moto Proceedings: A Call For Enhanced Safety Standards!

Guest Author053 views

The Supreme Court bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices Manoj Mishra and JB Pardiwala, on 20th August 2024, shed light on the recurrent safety issues faced by women in our country, during the Suo moto proceedings on the Kolkata doctor’s rape and murder case. The crime took place on 9th August 2024 and the talk on safety has spurred since then. However, Justice DY Chandrachud emphasizes on ensuring safety in actuality through national protocols.

Read more

Broken, Battered, Taunted, Killed And Misjudged

Elsa Joel023 views

‘Boys will be boys. They make mistakes’. What does this statement convey? That nobody should be held accountable for their sudden fetishes or perversions towards women? Come on, display some of that social consciousness that is bandied about so much in official and international speeches about how Indian women are revered as goddesses.

Read more

Champions of Change: Supreme Court’s Verdict on Strengthening Women’s Maintenance Rights

Guest Author033 views

Women in India, like in most developing countries across the world, have suffered long-standing oppression to the point where taglines such as “striving for gender equality”, “women empowerment” and “women rights” are so popular and basic for any write-up title. In search of a unique and catchy title, I opened ChatGPT to send a prompt – “write an empowering and catchy quote on women who have discriminatory personal laws in India” and received the following response:

“Women are not just subjects of personal laws; they are champions of change, fighting for justice and equality in every corner of India.”

Read more

A Sign of Obsoleteness: Marital Rape exception in the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita

Guest Author029 views

The marital rape exception (referred to as the ‘MRE’ by the Delhi HC) has been a contentious issue in the legal world. The introduction of new criminal laws, that have come into effect on 1st July, have fuelled the debate further. The Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (hereinafter referred to as the ‘BNS’), as the ruling government claims, intends to wipe out archaic traces of the colonial era embedded in the IPC. However, marital rape being retained in the new law, as an exception to the rape offence, has attracted criticisms that question the very purpose of the criminal law overhaul in the country. This article aims to evaluate judicial views on this matter while making a strong case for deleting the MRE to uphold individual liberty.

Read more

Steering the ‘Menstrual Leave Policy’ Debate in a Legal Direction

Guest Author041 views

The long-standing debate regarding menstrual leave policy (hereinafter referred to as ‘the policy’) has erupted once again since the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking menstrual leave, on 8th July 2024. A three-judge bench consisting of CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra stated that the court cannot take up policy matters that fall clearly within the executive’s domain and in turn, directed the government to frame a policy for the same. A concern flagged by CJI DY Chandrachud while dismissing the petition revolves around gender representation as it is feared that recruiters will have lesser preferences for women due to the ‘paid leave’ factor.

Read more

“It Is Patriarchal And Sexist To Suggest That A Woman Can Not Be Believed When She States That She Was Raped, Merely For The Reason That She Is Sexually Active”: Hon’ble Supreme Court

Editor024 views

On 31st October 2022, in its recent judgement titled The State of Jharkhand versus Shailendra Kumar Rai @ Pandav Raidated (Criminal Appeal No 1441 of 2022), a division bench of the hon’ble Supreme Court comprising of hon’ble Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli has equivocally pointed out that “whether a woman is “habituated to sexual intercourse” or “habitual to sexual intercourse” is irrelevant for the purposes of determining whether the ingredients of Section 375 of the IPC are present in a particular case.” The Hon’ble Bench further objected to the insensitive and unscientific practice of conducting a “two-finger test” and declared that “any person who conducts the “two-finger test” or per vaginum examination while examining a person alleged to have been subjected to a sexual assault shall be guilty of misconduct.” The Hon’ble justices went on to observe that “this so-called test has no scientific basis and neither proves nor disproves allegations of rape. It instead re-victimizes and re-traumatizes women who may have been sexually assaulted, and is an affront to their dignity…….. The so-called test is based on the incorrect assumption that a sexually active woman cannot be raped. Nothing could be further from the truth – a woman’s sexual history is wholly immaterial while adjudicating whether the accused raped her. Further, the probative value of a woman’s testimony does not depend upon her sexual history.”

Read more

आधी आबादी की आजादी कहां छुपा दी?

Rajesh Singh035 views

भारत ने हाल ही में अपनी स्वतंत्रता के 75 वर्ष पूर्ण होने पर तिरंगा उत्सव और आजादी का अमृत महोत्सव मनाया है पंरतु आजादी के 75 वर्षों के बाद भी भारत की आधी आबादी सुरक्षित नही है। जब तक महिलाएं असुरक्षित हैं तब तक ऐसे कार्यक्रमों या महोत्सवों का कोई महत्व नहीं रह जाता। हाल ही में राष्ट्रीय अपराध रिकॉर्ड ब्यूरो द्वारा प्रकाशित आंकड़े दर्शा रहे हैं कि उत्तर से दक्षिण, पूर्व से पश्चिम भारत के किसी भी राज्य या शहर या क्षेत्र में महिलाएं सुरक्षित नहीं है। वैसे तो अपने आप को भारत विश्व गुरु और दुनिया का तीसरा सबसे ज्यादा शक्तिशाली राष्ट्र मानता है परंतु यहां महिलाओं पर जुल्मों की सूची दिन प्रतिदिन लंबी होती जा रही है। राष्ट्रीय अपराध रिकॉर्ड ब्यूरो के अनुसार वर्ष 2021 में महिलाओं के साथ होने वाले अत्याचार, हिंसा, कत्ल, बलात्कार आदि घटनाओं की संख्या में पिछले साल के मुकाबले 15.3 फीसदी की बढ़ोतरी हुई है। इस वर्ष 428278 केस दर्ज हुए हैं जबकि वर्ष 2020 में ये संख्या 371503 थी।

Read more