Reservation, not crutches

PUNE, Dec 29: The goal behind special provisions like reservations is to provide equality of opportunity and, therefore, care should be take...

PUNE, Dec 29: The goal behind special provisions like reservations is to provide equality of opportunity and, therefore, care should be taken to ensure that such measures do not reduce women of our society to the status of “handicapped citizens,” said Justice Sujata Manohar of the Supreme Court here yesterday.

Justice Manohar was delivering the inaugural address at the 14th biennial conference of woman lawyers here by Indian Federation of Women Lawyers.

Justice Manohar said that although the constitution permits such provisions, “they should not become crutches for women.”

Referring to the status of women in India, Justice Manohar said, there is no literacy among them and the gender bias still prevails. “Amongst the poor in our country, the poorest are the women,” she said, adding that such a situation directly conflicts with the constitutional values of equality and indiscrimination.

Referring to section 498 A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with complaints of harassment of women due to dowry and other monetary demands, she said violence against women was still a socially accepted feature of our society. “Although the Acts have been amended, dowry deaths continue and, consequently, the cases of prosecution under 498 A of the IPC have increased. However, due care must be taken that the section is not used indiscriminately,” she urged.

Equality for women still remains a goal, but it is one that can be achieved, she stated, adding that a woman has to be equipped to be self-reliant.

Justice Ashok Desai of the Bombay High Court, who delivered the keynote address on the occasion, said that our society is not conditioned to invest their faith in the law and therefore, the law can not attain glory in our society.

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“It requires a legal culture, unfortunately what we have is a litigation culture. The law has become a weapon and long-drawn litigation a diplomatic move,” he opined.

Referring to reservation for women, Justice Desai said that the topic has several cross-currents and undercurrents. “It should be discussed at length as to whether by demanding reservation we are going backward or forward,” he stated.

The 81st Constitution Amendment Bill, which proposed 33 percent reservation for women, ended in a fiasco in the Lok Sabha, with stalwarts like Ela Bhat unable to decide which side to favour, said Desai. He added that in such a situation it was worth discussing as to whether womanhood could be uplifted through reservation.

If this Bill is passed, we might come to a state when perhaps reservation will become a rule and equality an exception, when in actuality it is otherwise in the constitution, said Desai.