The Supreme Court on Tuesday described as “too Harvard-oriented” a handbook published in 2023 under former Chief Justice DY Chandrachud to avoid gender stereotypes during court proceedings, The Times of India reported.
The 30-page Handbook on Combating Gender Stereotypes, released in August 2023, is a glossary of “gender-unjust terms” that the Supreme Court wanted the legal community to avoid when preparing petitions, orders, and judgements. The handbook also suggests alternatives.
On Tuesday, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and NV Anjaria directed the National Judicial Academy in Bhopal to frame new guidelines and submit a report.
Among the recommendations in the handbook is the use of the word “woman” to replace terms such as “career woman”, “fallen woman”, “harlot”, “seductress” and “whore”.
The framing of the handbook was led by Chandrachud, who obtained a Master of Laws degree in 1983 and a Doctorate in Juridical Sciences in 1986 from Harvard Law School in Massachusetts, United States.
The Supreme Court was hearing a suo moto case on an Allahabad High Court order from March that held that acts such as grabbing a minor’s breasts and breaking open the drawstring of her pyjama did not constitute an offence of attempt to rape or rape.
The order was stayed later that month by the Supreme Court, which had described the High Court’s observations as shocking.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court set aside the High Court order and directed the trial court to proceed against the two persons accused in the case.
During the hearing, the bench also took into account the handbook on gender stereotypes that had been prepared in 2023, observing that it assigned forensic meanings to different aspects of sexual assault.
This may not be understood by victims, their families or common citizens, the bench said.
Kant said that the handbook was too technical and “Harvard-oriented” to be of any real help, The Times of India reported.
The bench directed the National Judicial Academy to form a committee of domain experts, academicians and lawyers to revisit the matter and frame new guidelines, the newspaper reported.
The chief justice added that once these guidelines were finalised, they should be made part of the study material at the National Judicial Academy. High Court judges must also be trained in batches on the sensitivities required to deal with sexual assault cases, he added.
“It serves no purpose to sermonise the HC judges sitting in the Supreme Court,” the newspaper quoted Kant as having said. “They must get practical training at NJA.”
In his foreword on the handbook, Chandrachud had said that the document aimed to help judges and the legal community to identify, understand and combat stereotypes about women.
“Relying on predetermined stereotypes in judicial decision-making contravenes the duty of judges to decide each case on its merits, independently and impartially,” the former chief justice had said. “In particular, reliance on stereotypes about women is liable to distort the law’s application to women in harmful ways.”
The handbook also suggests the use of phrases such as “street sexual harassment” instead of “eve-teasing”. It adds that the term “mother” to replace “unwed mother”, and “sexually harassed, assaulted or raped” instead of “violated”.
The handbook also notes that terms such as “survivor” and “victim” were both applicable to describe those affected by sexual violence. This was unless the persons concerned expressed a preference, which should then be respected, it added.
“Judges must be vigilant against all forms of gender biases and ensure that every person, regardless of their gender identity, is treated equally and with dignity,” the handbook stated.
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