SC judge: Women's justice laws are robust, but delivery remains weak

India has largely built the necessary legal framework to ensure justice for women, but the effective implementation of the justice delivery system continues to fall short, Supreme Court judge B.V. Nagarathna said on Saturday.

“The law's promise is almost complete, but its delivery remains inadequate,” Justice Nagarathna said while addressing the inaugural session of a two-day South Zone conference on 'Justice for Women' organised jointly by the National Commission for Women (NCW), the High Court of Karnataka (HCK), and the Karnataka Judicial Academy.

She stressed that changing mindsets, societal attitudes, and practices requires systemic changes within the justice delivery system. “Undertaking the more arduous of tasks in creating changes in mindsets, societal attitudes, and practises can only occur when systemic changes in the system of justice delivery are undertaken to achieve justice for women,” she said.

Noting that all courts face a substantial backlog of cases, Justice Nagarathna pointed out that only a fraction of aggrieved women are able to secure justice in time. She suggested that legal aid must be provided to a woman immediately after incidents like dowry harassment, cruelty, domestic violence, etc., either at police stations or in hospitals.

Avoiding revictimisation

The judge emphasised that the process of trial should not lead to “revictimisation or stigmatisation of the survivor.” She said, “It is important to recognise that no judge willingly seeks to typify stereotypes.”

Justice Nagarathna highlighted the role of judicial academies in combatting stereotypes and prejudices. “The role of judicial academies in combatting such stereotypes and prejudices and sensitising judicial officers on the language used during the course of recording evidence, and in judgment, is significant, and a separate module in this regard must be framed and implemented,” she said.

HCK Chief Justice on persistent violence

In his address, Vibhu Bakhru, Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka, said that despite decades of legal reform, violence against women persists across homes, workplaces, educational institutions, and public spaces. He attributed this to deep-rooted gender bias, economic dependence, unequal access to opportunities, delayed investigations, inadequate forensic support, low conviction rates, and insufficient gender sensitisation within the justice delivery system.

NCW flags pending compensation cases

NCW Chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar flagged the uneven implementation of victim compensation schemes, pointing to NALSA figures showing over 14,000 applications seeking compensation are pending. She also voiced concern over the practice of pressuring victims to settle even heinous, non-compoundable offences, and stressed the need for time-bound trials.

Criticism of Karnataka amendment laws

Justice Nagarathna criticised the recent amendments to Karnataka's civil court and High Court laws, which shifted jurisdiction over regular first appeals from the High Court to district courts outside Bengaluru city. She said the new laws place women litigants at a distinct disadvantage, forcing them to approach the Supreme Court instead of the High Court.

She noted that the Karnataka Civil Courts Amendment Act, 2023, and the High Court Amendment Act, 2023, have denuded the High Court of its jurisdiction to hear regular first appeals. Under the new framework, a judgment by a civil judge (senior division), except in Bengaluru city, is now appealable only before a district court.

The judge warned that this deprives litigants, particularly women, of an effective appellate forum on questions of fact. Disputes over issues such as family property rights would effectively end at the district court level, compelling aggrieved parties to take the costly option of approaching the Supreme Court. “How many women in Karnataka can approach the Supreme Court?” she asked.

Calling for the repeal of the amended laws, Justice Nagarathna urged the state government to reconsider the amendments to ensure that women are not denied access to justice.