Supreme Court judge Justice BV Nagarathna on Friday stated that men must shed their condescending attitudes in marriage and that the institutions of family and marriage must be sustained.Justice Nagarathna was speaking at the 28th Justice Sunanda Bhandare Memorial lecture on the topic Role of Judiciary in Empowerment of Indian Women.During her lecture, she underscored,"Both women and men must realise that they are both important pillars of marriage. Family must play a key role, else domestic violence and infidelity are emerging trends. Men must shed their condescending attitude. Institute of family and marriage must be sustained and based on happiness and well-being of family and women. Erosion of identity of women in families in whatever capacity is eventually going to lead to breakdown of marriage. Behind every successful man, there has to be a family...There cannot be subordination of women in a marriage."Justice Nagarathna, who will be the first woman Chief Justice of India in 2027, stated that women can get into the formal workforce, but find it difficult in the legal profession "due to lack of equal division of household word and domestic chores.""Women are asked when her last period was to know if she is pregnant, and women in the private sector, on returning from maternity leave, find someone else in their place, losing their job after child. This cannot be allowed, it has been said in judgments," said the judge.She highlighted that marital discord greatly affects children and that it was high time men facilitate the empowerment of women. At the same time, she added,"Empowerment should not lead to women overpowering the men or anyone looking down on others. Respect and humility would go a long way in sustaining marriages and families. Being humble is antithetical to anger."Justice Nagarathna flagged the urgent need for institutions to help make the judiciary more inclusive and diverse.
"...It will build credibility and legitimacy of courts, help with the language and ensure courts become more gender neutral spades. It is my urgent plea to Justice Viswanathan, who will also become Chief Justice of India (in 2031), to make the judiciary more inclusive. In many ways, it would be the best tribute to Justice Bhandare," the top court judge said.
TAGS: Justice BV Nagarathna Condescending Attitudes Marriage
