Six judicial decisions of independent India, which changed the history of women

The process of enacting laws protecting the interests of women in India is also long. Even when there were no laws, even such cases were coming to the court, who prepared the ground for the making of these laws. The first case in which a woman demanded an equal share in her father's property. The first case that was filed against women's online abuse and cyber bullying. The case which cleared the way for the posh law to be enacted and all those cases, due to which the laws related to rape and sexual violence in India were further strengthened.

Today we are telling you about the six historical decisions of the Indian judicial system, which had a profound and far-reaching impact on the lives of women.

Visakha vs State of Rajasthan

In 1997, all women's organizations led by Naina Kapoor filed a PIL in the Supreme Court against Rajasthan and the central government. This petition demanded a safe workplace for women. It was in a way a demand to protect the fundamental rights given to women in sections 14, 19 and 21 of the Indian Constitution through legislation.

The reference to this petition was the Bhanwari Devi case of Rajasthan, which made a lot of headlines internationally. Bhanwari Devi worked in an NGO Sathin whose work was to stop child marriages happening around. When Bhanwari tried to stop a child marriage happening in his village, five men from that family gang-raped Bhanwari in the field.

Only then the question arose as to how to ensure the safety of women at the place of work. Hearing this petition, the Supreme Court took cognizance for the first time that till now there was no such law in India, which guarantees safety for women going out of their homes to work. The posh law came in 2013, but in 1997, the Supreme Court issued some guidelines, which was named the Visakha Guidelines. After these guidelines, a committee was made mandatory in all government and non-government offices which would investigate the matter and also take appropriate action if there is any complaint of sexual harassment.

In 2013, these guidelines were made into a law through posh.

Ritu Kohli Case

In 2001, the first case of cyber bullying was registered in India. Ritu Kohli reported against a man named Manish Kathuria, who was stalking him through the internet. The man was carrying out this work through some social chatting website. He misused the girl's name and phone number and used inaccuracies. After some time, the girl started receiving calls from unknown states from different states and abroad, who used to talk to her in a vulgar manner. Delhi Police filed a complaint by Ritu Kohli and filed a case in the court under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code. It was only after this case that the Information Technology Act was changed for the first time in India as Section 509 of the IPC was not sufficient to deal with this issue.

Section 66E of the Information Technology Act outlines this type of abuse, but there is still a need for a more concrete and clear law against cyber abuse in our country.

Tukaram v State of Maharashtra, 1974

In this case, the woman was raped in the police station in the police custody. Two police constables were accused of rape. The lower court acquitted the accused, stating that the woman was married and accustomed to sexual intercourse. Also, no wounds or scars were found on his body. It is her consent not to oppose the woman much in this decision. But the Bombay High Court overturned the judgment of the sessions court and sentenced the accused to five years imprisonment. The Bombay High Court said that police custody does not have the consent taken by intimidating Victim. It is possible that a woman should not protest due to fear.

But the Supreme Court overturned the High Court's decision and acquitted the accused. The Supreme Court reiterated the interpretation of the lower court.

This case sparked a debate in the country about how to see and interpret consent, fear, intimidation, etc. in the language of the law.

It was only after this case that the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1983 passed. Through this act, changes were made to section 114A of the Indian Evidence Act, which clarified that consent would not be considered unless the consent was given in clear terms.

Also, section 376 of the Indian Penal Code was also amended and the sentence of custodial rape was increased to seven years. It has also been clarified that once the sexual intercourse is produced, the accused will have all the responsibility to prove his innocence.

MJ Akbar and Priya Ramani case

In October 2018, former editor and then Union Minister M.J. Akbar filed a contempt case against journalist Priya Ramani. This story began with the movement of Meitu, when a large number of women started telling stories of their sexual exploitation by men in powerful positions in the media and social media. Priya Ramani wrote an article in Vogue magazine - All Harvey Winist of the World and tweeted a few. After this, Akbar resigned as a minister and reached the court.

The decision of that case came on 17 February 2021, and perhaps this decision is a forerunner in the history of independent India. The things that the court said in this decision are historical. These things were publicly stated for the first time in such clear and concrete terms by a person sitting in a responsible judicial office guaranteeing respect and safety for women.

While dismissing the case of contempt on Priya Ramani, the court said-

• 1- Women cannot be punished for raising their voice against sexual exploitation. The constitution of India gives them the freedom to speak at any time.
• 2- The court cannot ignore that most incidents of sexual abuse take place inside closed rooms and women are unable to voice due to fear.
• 3- It does not matter how much time has passed. A woman can speak of her exploitation at any time.
• 4- A man's reputation is not more valuable than a woman's dignity and her honor.
• 5- Socially dignified and respected person can also be sexually exploitative.

Lata Singh vs State of Uttar Pradesh

This decision of the Supreme Court of 2006 was a concrete step towards ensuring freedom and selection rights given to women by the Constitution. Lata Singh was an adult woman, who married a Dalit person of her choice. Unhappy with this relationship, Lata's family accused Lata's husband of tricking her and kidnapping her. Police arrested the boy. Lata filed a petition in the court against the allegations leveled by the police and Lata's family, which resulted in a historic verdict. A joint bench of Justice Markandey Katju and Justice Ashok Bhan ruled that an adult woman can marry any person of her choice on her own. Not only this, the court has also ordered the police to take criminal action against the people who committed violence against people of inter-caste marriages on their own.

Subsequently, a recent judgment from Hadiya to the Himachal High Court, in which the judge said that the girl is not the property of anyone, the court has in many cases protected the right of girls to take their own life decisions. But Lata Singh's case was the first such case, which later prepared a complete path for such other decisions.

Mary Roy vs State of Kerala

This was the first historic decision related to property rights of girls in India. Mary Roy was a Syrian Christian woman from Kerala, whose father had given all her assets to her sons. Under the Travancore Succession Act, 1916, the daughter had no rights in the father's property. Mary challenged this law in court. The lower court first dismissed the case. Then Mary went to the High Court. After a 9-year-long battle, he finally got half of his father's property. This was also a historic decision in itself because for the first time in the history of independent India, a married woman was fighting for the right to equality in the property of the father. The result of this decision came in the form of a change in the Travancore Succession Act. Syrian Christian women were given equal rights in father's property.