The Hindu : Gender equality yet to be achieved: judge

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 14, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Mysore

Gender equality yet to be achieved: judge

By Our Staff Correspondent

MYSORE, MARCH 13. The judge of the Karnataka High Court, P. Vishwanatha Shetty, on Saturday regretted that the legislation enacted by Parliament and State Legislatures to ensure gender equality had failed to achieve the desired result.

Inaugurating the Sri K. Puttaswamy Memorial State Level Seminar on "Women: Legal problems and perspectives" organised by Vidyavardhaka Law College here, Mr. Shetty noted that Parliament and State Legislatures had passed several legislation during the past 50 years to ensure gender equality. "It is saddening to note that despite the efforts, the desired result has not been achieved," he said.

As far as the judiciary was concerned, Mr. Shetty said, "The responsibility of the judges is to give effect to the object and purpose of the legislation. Our responsibility also requires us to fully realise and understand the objective of the legislation and make it more meaningful and purposeful so that the aims and objectives of a particular legislation is not only achieved but its benefits reach the intended beneficiaries."

Mr. Shetty referred to a recent report of the United Nations, which stated that women constituted a half of the world's population but received only one-tenth of the world's income and owned less than one per cent of the world's property.

He observed that the Constitution of India prohibited any discrimination based on gender in general matters as well as in those concerning public employment. "This prohibition of gender-based discrimination has been given the status of a fundamental right," he added.

The provisions of the Constitution relating to legislation on gender equality had been broadly classified into seven categories — personal laws and women, uniform civil code and gender equality, women and criminal law, laws relating to dowry prohibition, industrial law and employment of women, sex determination tests and female foeticide, and prevention of immoral trafficking.

Mr. Shetty said the personal laws took care of issues such as marriage, divorce, succession, and maintenance. The criminal law had provisions to deal with crimes committed against women, including outraging their modesty, while the industrial laws provided for protection and welfare of women, including maternity benefits.

He noted that advanced scientific inventions had made sex determination of the foetus possible. "This has given rise to an increase in female foeticide and infanticide," Mr. Shetty said and added that the Parliament had passed the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994, to arrest this trend.

With a view to monitor the safeguards provided for women under the Constitution, the Government had enacted the National Commission for Women Act, 1990, which provided for setting up of a commission consisting of a chairperson and five persons nominated by the Union Government.Presenting a paper on "Women and human rights: A critique," J.S. Patil, Professor of Law, Gulbarga University, said though the Constitution provided equal status to men and women, certain recent issues such as the Permanent Resident (Disqualification) Bill, 2004, passed by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and the Supreme Court judgement in the Christian community welfare case needed to be pursued seriously.

Hemalatha Mahishi, advocate, delivered the keynote address.

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