A government-appointed high-level panel has recently given recommendations aiming to bring gender parity in family laws in India. The recommendations come on the heels of several progressive rulings by the courts recognising various women’s rights within the institution of family. The Supreme Court is set to hear an appeal by Shayara Bano against her triple talaq and the panel report is also going to be presented there.
As legal experts have opined time and again, Indian laws pertaining to family are in urgent need of an overhaul. It has been noted that some laws are not only discriminatory against women, the very lexicon they use is often derogatory. The committee has also taken cognisance of the same. It recommends that words like “maintenance” that have negative connotations should be substituted with a phrase like “monetary entitlement” suggesting equity. It is important that the language of justice be made gender neutral since it is the women that largely bear the stigma associated with certain words.