In praise of their liberal Lordships

The Supreme Court is clearly on a roll with a slew of landmark judgements that rocked the nation last week. The apex court has thrown archaic laws out of the window, such as those criminalising gay sex as well as IPC 497 which made adultery a criminal offence, and was heavily loaded against married women.

Next came the judgement making it legal for women of all ages to visit Sabarimala, and before that was another major judgement upholding the Constitutional validity of Aadhaar, which was challenged on the ground that it infringed on the privacy of citizens. Reading out the majority verdict Justice AK Sikri said the “data collection by Aadhaar is minimal and it is serving a much larger public interest.” But Justice DY Chandrachud wrote a passionate dissenting note. The operative part of the judgement, which upheld the validity of the passage of the Aadhaar Bill as a money bill, said giving dignity to the marginalised sections of society outweigh the concerns on privacy.

Aadhaar relief

While this argument has its merit, mercifully, the apex court has struck down several provisions of the Aadhaar Act, introduced by the present government, which, privacy issues aside, were a huge nuisance and ended up harassing citizens. The Supreme Court struck down the circular issued by TRAI in March 2017 mandating linking of mobile numbers with Aadhaar. Even though the court had intervened earlier and stayed this requirement, the fear of sim cards being invalidated sent tens of thousands of people scurrying to telecom companies link their Aadhaar and sim cards.

Then came another bombshell, when the government insisted on linking all bank accounts with Aadhaar. As though the travails of day-to-day life weren’t enough! The last straw on the camel’s back was parents’ Aadhaar numbers being made essential for their kids’ admission to schools. Mercifully, before the government could come up with another brainwave on Aadhaar, the Supreme Court put an end to this circus.

While there is no denying the necessity for a unique identity to deliver subsidies and other benefits to the poor and the needy, it was the concerted effort to turn Aadhaar into a surveillance tool that rankled.

Frowning on their Lordships!

While the liberal and the right thinking people have welcomed the Supreme Court’s pronunciations on Section 377, adultery law and Sabarimala, there are also growing murmurs of resentment towards such “pseudo liberal” views. On the Sabarimala judgement there is a strong view that the majority of women themselves respect the celibacy of Lord Ayyappa and opt to stay away, and that only “women activists” are happy about the lifting of the ban! Do I hear Sharad Yadav saying only the “balkatis” will go to Sabrimala after this verdict?

Similarly, on the scrapping of IPC 497, there are voices of horror and apprehension on the “sanctity” of marriage being “watered down” when you hold that a married woman having sex outside the marriage is not criminal! Justice Markandey Katju has said that by decriminalising adultery, the Supreme Court has gone “by its own abstract idea of freedom, equality and dignity… India is still a highly conservative country, and most people here regard having sex with another man’s wife as horrifying, highly immoral and deeply offensive. This social reality of India cannot be overlooked.”

It is only a matter of time before some of our venerable netas jump into the fray with homilies on morality and the sanctity of marriage.As to Justice Katju’s views, which “social reality” of India he is referring to is a debatable point. Young India is changing the rules of the game. Every Navratri season, there is a reported increase in the sale of condoms in urban Gujarat.

At a time when liberal values are under serious threat, the Supreme Court’s stepping in with some avant-garde observations is like a gust of fresh breeze being let into a dark, mouldy room. Their liberal Lordships deserve our gratitude.

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