Supreme Court launches handbook to address gender-based stereotypes

The Supreme Court has unveiled the gender stereotype combat handbook to completely curb the use of offensive terms directed towards women in courtrooms. This handbook provides directives to judges, ensuring the avoidance of traditional language that might be objectionable during arguments and proceedings involving women. During the launch of this handbook, Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud noted that it would facilitate both judges and lawyers while preventing the use of derogatory terms against women.
This handbook can be employed in presenting arguments and preparing court orders, aiming to maintain a respectful and dignified discourse. Chief Justice Chandrachud announced that the handbook would soon be uploaded on the Supreme Court’s official website.
The handbook includes several examples of words that have been used in arguments and orders involving women, illustrating how such words can be legally problematic. He pointed out that numerous such words have been persistently used, consciously or unconsciously, contributing to the erosion of women’s dignity. The handbook serves as a tool to counter this trend.
To clarify the intent behind creating this handbook, the Chief Justice provided examples where derogatory terms like ‘upastri’ (prostitute) and ‘keeps’ were used to address women in court orders.
Such language was employed in a case related to domestic violence, highlighting the importance of avoiding such terminology. It is worth noting that a similar handbook had been launched previously concerning LGBTQ matters, outlining guidelines to avoid inappropriate language.
On a different note, during his address at the Red Fort on Independence Day, Prime Minister Modi had praised the decisions made during the tenure of Justice Chandrachud in the Supreme Court. He mentioned that the Supreme Court’s orders are also being made available in regional languages. This statement was met with gratitude from the Chief Justice.
The Supreme Court has already uploaded 9,423 orders in regional languages, and the goal is to translate around 35,000 key judgments.
This translation effort aims to make judgments accessible not only in Hindi but in Odia, Gujarati, Tamil, Assamese, Khasi, Garo, Punjabi, Nepali, and Bengali also in various other languages.