Are Indian laws really gender neutral?


"I doubt not then but innocence shall make false accusation blush, and tyranny tremble at patience."

                                                                      ~ William Shakespeare

This quote was written by Shakespeare in his play, “Measure for Measure” where he conveyed that virtue and innocence will ultimately triumph over false accusations and oppressive authority.    

This is somewhat that is being faced by men of our society in context of Indian laws, to which we all are told to abide by.

Since, we are heading towards a creation of such society where we want a safer and secure environment for women, but at the same time we must not forget that society comprises both men and women. And if we create and amend laws in such a way so that we can make more secure surroundings for women, we will unintentionally end up with the creation of oppression over men, this is what men are facing nowadays but neither media nor so-called great influencer is going to talk about this, ‘cause it’s not trending.

Under so-called strict laws, not all but many men are facing false allegations of domestic violence, cruelty, dowry. Not only these types of allegations but dire allegations of rape and attempt to murder also are misused against men. Laws against rape, domestic abuse, and dowry harassment are only a few of the sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) now known as Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) that are primarily aimed at safeguarding women. Although the goal of these laws is to address gender-specific concerns, they are frequently criticized for failing to sufficiently address discrimination or violence against males or non-binary people.

In a number of rulings, the Indian Supreme Court has addressed the problem of false accusations. For instance, in decisions such as State of Punjab v. Gurmeet Singh (1996) and Arun Kumar v. State of UP (2021), the Court has acknowledged the serious consequences of false charges on people and emphasized the significance of differentiating between true and false accusations.

The frequency of false charges is investigated in a number of studies and surveys carried out by colleges and research organizations. For instance, concerns about false allegations and their effects on the court system are covered in research by Dr. Aruna G. K. (2017) that was published in the Journal of Indian Law and Society.

Even though justice might be served in false cases also but we all know justice delayed is justice denied and such justice is of no use for such person who has already gone through the term of punishment without being convicted.

Therefore, I conclude my blog with a question for the readers, With the amendments and development in the field of law, are we really getting more gender neutral or gender biased?

 

 


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