New Delhi, Dec 6th : , Justice D.Y.Chandrachud, Supreme Court judge.Chandrachud on Monday said marginalisation not only occurs for members of lower castes, but also for particular genders or identities with specific sexual orientation.
Delivering the 13th B.R.Ambedkar Memorial Lecture on “Conceptualising Marginalisation: Agency, Assertion, and Personhood”, he said that marginalisation not only occurs to members from the lower castes or specific races but to those who belong to a particular gender or identify with a specific sexual orientation or are in other ways different from what is considered to be the “norm”.
He said the top court saw it with respect to women when it had to adjudicate two cases in order to decide whether women officers could be granted Permanent Commission in the armed forces.
“In Secretary of Defence v.Babita Puniya, and Lt.Colonel Nitisha v.Union of India.This Court found that the armed force was willing to overlook all military records of women officers when it came down to granting them Permanent Commission.
He also said that in Navtej Johar v.Union of India the top court noted that Section 377 of India’s Penal Code had the effect of limiting the LGBTQ community to just to their sexual relationships.”Our judgments in all these cases have attempted to improve the legal status these groups, but their impact on society continues to be minimal.” he added.Members of LGBTQ community are still looked at with suspicion by the society, many a times their own parents,” he added.
Justice Chandrachud said: “And even with the Permanent Commission having been granted to the women officers, our Court continues to hear applications that seek to delay the process.”
He stressed that, having spoken about the impact that group identity has upon an individual’s personhood and “we must ask ourselves how an individual can be considered as she is and not as a member a marginalised group.” “
“Indeed, many members of the LGTBQ community continue to remain ‘closeted’ due to the fear of the discrimination they may face.But does society allow everyone such freedom, especially when it is impossible to hide their membership in a group? “
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