SUPREME COURTS VERDICTS – For better or the worse?
~By Ana S. Thomas
Change is perhaps the only constant in life, and it is required in order to have a more progressive and inclusive approach towards life. India, a country that we are proud to be a part of, made each one of us prouder by embracing change, in accordance with the recent Supreme Court judgements. This month cannot be forgotten easily, and has truly been very notable for the Indian Judiciary.
- Sabarimala Verdict
Why women couldn’t enter a temple for so long is something that irks and bemuses me at the same time. Menstruation is a natural cycle in the body of every woman, and I certainly do not think that it can be the bar to allow or not allow them entry into a temple. This verdict comes as a major victory for all those who believe in equal rights for both the sexes. Now finally, the SC brought an end to this archaic law by allowing women between ages 10 to 50 to enter the temple. But do women really want to enter such a temple, which is founded on such values of inequality? That is indeed a question which is debatable!
- Adultery Not a Crime
The SC gave a unanimous judgement, which declared adultery to no longer be a criminal offence. This does not in any way justify adultery as a moral act. However, the need for this verdict was simply to prevent the violation of a woman’s dignity. Defined under Section 497 of the IPC, this law received lots of criticism for treating women as mere possessions and not as human beings. Adultery may not be a crime, but if it leads to someone committing suicide, then the act must be treated as a crime.
- Decriminalisation of Section 377: A Historic Judgement
In an attempt to expand the ambit of equality to the LGBTQ-plus community, the SC scrapped off some parts of Section 377 of the IPC, holding it as a major violation of an individual’s right to privacy. Although the societal taboos still have to be combated to a great extent, this verdict was indeed the first step in this direction.
- Aadhar Verdict
While the validity of Aadhar has been questioned time & again, it has also been suggested that it is an infringement of an individual’s right to privacy, wherein one’s personal data could get compromised and misused as well. While the apex court’s judgement upheld the constitutional validity of Aadhar, some changes have also been made. For instance, Aadhar won’t be mandatory for school admissions or taking NEET, UGC & CBSE exams. However, the linkage of PAN cards with Aadhaar remains compulsory. The judgement was passed with a 4:1 majority with Justice D Y Chandrachud's having a dissenting view. He stated that Aadhaar may possibly lead to profiling of voters.
George Bernard Shaw once said, “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” Rightly so, mere court verdicts can never be expected to bring about real change in our lives, unless we as a society do not try to be more inclusive in our thought & approach towards differences of all forms. The Judiciary has no doubt made some incredible judgments in these past few weeks, which will act as a stepping stone for a lot more positive changes in the country.
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