Dear Editor,
The Supreme Court’s ruling allowing women to enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala, irrespective of their age, shows a will for society to be an equal place for men and women. Earlier, women between the ages of 10 and 50 were denied entry. The ruling shows that we are striving to be a society in which both men and women are equal partners.
Yet, laws that were originally crafted for the protection and upliftment of women, but discriminate against men, continue to be on our statute books. Is it not time to re-evaluate the necessity of these laws?
Unintended results
A prime example is section 56 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPC), which says that a court shall not order the arrest or detention of a woman in a civil prison for the execution of a decree for the payment of money. This makes loan recovery from women a challenge as there is no fear of arrest. Well aware that they are protected under this section, some women – and men – seek to exploit it.
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