Explained Ideas: Why SC’s order on coparcenary rights should be welcomed

In a recent judgment, the Supreme Court granted coparcenary rights to women. (Illustration by C R Sasikumar)

“What makes this judgment epochal is the progressive change in the attitude of the courts, which now appear to be upholding principles of substantive justice for women both in theory and practice,” they state.

Indeed, the higher judiciary in India has generally been broad-minded in dismantling patriarchal practices and institutions. “In that sense, the judicial sojourn that in a way commenced from the judgment delivered in the case of C B Muthamma (1979) or Nergesh Meerza (1981) continues to be persistent in breaking stereotypes, be it Sabarimala (2018), or granting permanent commission to women officers in the Indian Army”.

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But they also point out that while the delivery of the judgement is one thing, its proper implementation quite another.

On occasion, the law and courts may turn out to be progressive. “However, on no occasion can we expect the society to readily accede to progressive reforms,” they write. The challenge for economically dependent women in far-flung rural areas who are denied literacy, dignity and, sometimes, even a name and identity, in securing their rights is immense.

“In parts of Bihar we come from, there are areas where women are still addressed by their village names or more commonly as someone’s wife. Family histories have conveniently wiped out any references to women, and what their lives were like, what became of them, and how they managed to survive in the absence of support from husbands and children,” they state.