Landmark Judgements That Aimed At Strengthening Indian Women’s Plight

In a country like ours there are two facets of perception we come across when any question of women rights is raised. While one hand we hear the goddess like utopian version women are already worshipped and applauded on every step while the milder and more truer version is the version of reality where while the women in this country have come a long way but still have long way to go in terms of their rights, liberalisation and standing. 

Herein we will throw lights on some prominent cases where women stood up for themselves and the fight progressed in their favour.

1. Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan

This case changed the face of workplace for women in working force where in 2013 the Supreme Court laid down the guidelines that dealt with sexual harassment in workplace. Here the responsibility of providing a safe working environment to women was placed on their employers.

The guidelines were brought forth after combined efforts of several women organisations including the Vishaka Group which works for women education and research. They had taken up the case of a woman Bhanwari Devi who was brutally gangraped by 5 men for raising voice against child marriage. She was a government employee who tried to prevent the child marriage as a part of her duties as she was employed at Women Development Programme during which she was raped by the landlords of gujjar community.

2. Centre for enquiry into Health and Allied themes (CEHAT) v. Union of India

It is no surprise that the sex ratio in several Indian states is a matter of worry and concern. As the technological advancements in the medical fraternity continued pre- natal diagnostic techniques were starting to be used for a cruel and patriarchal purpose. A growing trend came across where female foetuses were terminated after their gender was revealed through this technology and resultantly the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994 came to be implemented. It is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted to stop female foeticides and arrest the declining sex ratio in India. The act banned prenatal sex determination.

In this case a PIL was filed before the Supreme Court of India due to the worrisome decline in the sex ratio of the country as seen in the 2001 census. The PIL sought an enquiry into health and related theme to implement the PNDT Amendment Act,2003.

3. Shayra Bano v. Union of India

In this leading case, the Supreme Court laid down that the practice of triple talaq is against the very tenets of Quran and the Talaq -e- bidat gives the right to give divorce to the husband only without any regard to the wife or without any consent on her part. There were several women in various parts of the country who underwent an immense trauma and unjust treatment as they were left divorced by their husbands at their whim. This resulted in worsening the plight of muslim women in several ways.

As a result of this case, the Apex court’s decision led to the Muslim Women (Protection of Right of marriage) Act,2019. As per the act any husband who indulges in such an act would be imprisoned for a period extendable to 3 years along with fine. 

This case shows the journey undertaken by women and their struggle over the years as it makes us think of an infamous take of the apex court in Shah Bano case.

4. Joseph Sine V. Union of India

This leading judgement is often known only for the decriminalisation of Adultery as unlike before, adultery only remains as ground for divorce now. But the observations made in this judgement are of utmost importance to understand how a woman’s perception in the eyes of judiciary has changed over time.

The Supreme Court struck down Section 497 of the IPC in this case as it was in violation of Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Indian Constitution. It was held that the law was patriarchal and archaic. 

One important aspect of the case was that Section 198(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code was also struck down as it only gave the right to bring a prosecution under Section 497 IPC to the husband.

5. The Secretary, Ministry of Defence v. Babita Puniya and Ors

The women officers in the armed forces were earlier not given a permanent commission which was challenged in this case. Here the court held that the women are at par with their male counterparts in the defence and hence should be given equal benefits of promotions, ranks and pensions. The court gave the decision that all women officers would be eligible for permanent commissions as well. This was a remarkable decision considering that defence service sector has been a very rigid sector in terms of gender roles. This can especially be seen when the applicability of the Joseph Shine judgement as always been questioned in the defence as remains to be a matter of confusion.

While there are several such developments that have taken place over time , there remains a mountain of struggle that has only recently started to be excavated. The most recent discussion in terms of women rights is a discussion on paid menstrual leave and decisions given in terms of abortion rights.