NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has said that pleadings should be without derogatory terms that perpetuate stereotypes and undermine the dignity and rights of individuals based on their gender, asking to follow the Supreme Court's recently launched ‘Handbook on Combating Gender Stereotypes’ in this regard.
As per the recently launched handbook, a number of gender stereotype words prejudicial to women like eve-teasing, housewife, career woman, fallen woman, faithful or obedient wife, eve-teasing, and hermaphrodite among others should be avoided in the legal lexicon.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said, that by actively challenging and discarding gender stereotypes in their language, actions, and interactions, the legal fraternity can contribute to dismantling entrenched and hidden biases that have persisted in our society for far too long.
The observations came while the high court was dealing with a woman’s plea challenging a trial court order granting anticipatory bail to a man accused of raping her on false pretext of marriage. The court expressed serious dissatisfaction over the use of words in his affidavit against the woman.
"The use of infelicitous language transgressing on the character of the woman and to state that her marital status made her lesser than a person or a woman and the marital status of the man in question entitled him to a virgin woman and an unmarried person could not have had sexual relationship with a woman already married was not only derogatory, but affront to the principles of equality, dignity and respect," the single-bench judge said in the recent order.
The 23-page order said it is of the opinion that "use of such language in the pleadings goes against the basic minimum standard expected for promoting a gender just environment as has been also been reiterated by the Hon’ble Supreme Court by releasing the ‘Handbook on Combating Gender Stereotypes’ which aims to assist judges and the legal community in identifying, understating, and combating stereotypes about women which may be used while drafting pleadings as well as orders and judgments."
The order noted that lawyers are entitled to present their clients' cases to the best of their abilities while maintaining fairness.
"However, this does not justify the use of offensive, abusive, disrespectful, derogatory, and misogynistic language in pursuit of this goal. This case serves as a gentle reminder to all involved in the judicial process that they should refrain from using such derogatory and demeaning language. Such language is not only offensive but also damaging to the honor and reputation of the parties involved," the order added.