Patriarchy is taught since birth, rots in existing structures of every country: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court recently observed that patriarchy is taught since birth and exists in the structures of every country [Dipali Maitra v. Coal India Limited].. Justice Shekhar Saraf made the observation while criticising a policy that excluded married daughters from getting compassionate appointments. The judge said that the policy was "misogynistic," and created barriers against increasing the participation of women in the workforce."I would reiterate that patriarchy does not exist solely in the mindset of an individual, rather it is taught since birth and rots in the existing structures of every country. The aforementioned policy is one of many where misogynistic beliefs about a woman’s dependency are accepted and promoted," the judge observed. It is the duty of the judiciary, the Court said, to investigate whether a policy’s distinction based on gender or marital status is a reasonable classification and rectify such abhorrent patriarchal inequities that exist within the legal structures of this country."Additionally, this Court would request the Government to look into such archaic laws or policies that adhere to the aforementioned misogynistic “natural” order of things, and amend the same in accordance with the equal gender principles in Article 14 of the Constitution of India," the Court added..Justice Saraf said that such policies illustrate how women’s identities are institutionalized in social, economic, cultural and legal structures to rationalize male dominance."Such 'natural' order of things has promoted the understanding that women are born as daughters, brought up as sisters, 'donated' as wives in practices such as ‘Kanyadaan’, and are legitimized in the eyes of society as mothers. The inherent belief is that women are objects where their identity (such as a married/unmarried) in society must be constructed and construed around the men in their lives, which is of course preposterous.".It was also observed that women are not 'naturally' deficient in any form and that inequality between genders is created and promoted because patriarchy is entrenched in institutions. "Belief in the 'natural' order of the things, begets policies that are assumed to adhere to such 'natural' differentiation and are therefore assumed to be logical or rational," the Court emphasised. The policy in question is an arrogant acceptance of the assumed “natural” order of women and their economic rights, it added. .In the instant case, the petitioner, who is the wife of a deceased employee of Coal India, sought compassionate appointment for either her daughter or her son-in-law. The Bench noted that the son-in-law, was not a domesticated husband (Ghar Jamai) and was also not living with the deceased employee at the relevant time. It further took note of the fact that the son-in-law was earning ₹50,000 per month and thus was not economically dependent on the deceased. Similarly, the daughter of the deceased was also not dependent on her father at the relevant time, since she too was living with her husband. It, therefore, dismissed the petition. .Speaking about the policy, the Bench noted that the only intelligible differentia for distinction between married and unmarried daughters is the assumption that daughters once married can no longer be dependent on their fathers or mothers.One of the salient points of the policy, the Bench said, is the addition of the word ‘unmarried’ before daughter, which it said is an arbitrary and sexist distinction, which is in violation of Article 14 and 15 of the Constitution of India."Therefore, no application for compassionate appointment can be rejected solely on the ground of marital status of a daughter and the married daughter must be included within the category of direct dependents," the judgment stated..Advocates Parth Ghosh, Amal Kumar Datta, Simran Sureka and Debashis Das appeared for the petitioners. Advocates Shiv Shankar Banerjee and Sanchita Barman Roy represented the State..[Read Judgment]