Letters to the editor

Aadhaar case

Justice D.Y. Chandrachud rightly held that the government rode roughshod over parliamentary procedure by interpreting the Aadhaar Act as a Money Bill (Cover Story, October 26).

After the right to privacy judgment last year, citizens hoped that the apex court would protect people against the invasion of their privacy by the government, companies and others. While the judgment limits what data can be collected and how they can be stored and used, private citizens are worried what will happen to all the biometric data that has already been collected from them by private agencies. Even the information with the government, ostensibly meant for the purpose of delivering social benefits, could create as many surveillance points as there are citizens. An overzealous government can use data to keep political opponents on a tight leash. The average citizen is indeed worried about the growing power of the state.

Kangayam R. Narasimhan, Chennai

Sabarimala

THE historic Supreme Court judgment allowing all women into the precincts of the Sabarimala temple removes the shackles of social discrimination that have been imposed on women devotees for a long time (“End of exclusion”, October 26). While the misogynist and the patriarchal elements of society have mounted a strident attack on the judgment on the grounds that it tramples upon the faith of a vast majority of devotees and that the purity of Lord Ayyappa will be desecrated, many progressive writers and social activists hailed it as revolutionary and one that reinforces their faith in the right to equality enshrined in the Constitution. They commented that gender discrimination in the name of Lord Ayyappa was untenable. The protests staged by the Congress and the BJP are politically motivated and unethical.

N.C. Sreedharan, Kannur, Kerala

WHILE the verdict has caused disappointment and widespread protestations among devotees, a section of Hindus cheerily greeted it. As expected, the Left Democratic Front-led government welcomed the verdict. It is an irony that in a case seeking gender equality, the only dissenting voice came from the lone woman judge of the bench. She is of the view that issues involving age-old customs, beliefs and practices, which are unique to each temple, are more important than individual freedom. I endorse her opinion. Later events proved right her fear that the issue would be politicised.

But one can not turn a blind eye to the communal polarisation taking place in society. Unless a timely solution is found, the issue may snowball into a major problem and threaten the secular fabric of society. Now the government and the Travancore Devaswom Board have no choice but to accept the verdict and develop infrastructure facilities for women devotees for the coming festival season. This will be an uphill task.

T.N. Venugopalan, Cochin, Kerala

Reservation

THE article “Setback for social justice” (October 26) dealt with almost all the sides of the issue relating to the “creamy layer” concept. There have been many occasions when there is one post available for entry or promotion but there is more than one S.C. or S.T. candidate eligible for that post. In such a situation, the creamy layer concept should be used to decide who gets selected: obviously, the candidate from the non-creamy layer.

Subhash Athale, Kolhapur, Maharashtra

Section 377

THE much-anticipated judgement of the Supreme Court striking down provisions of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code was most welcome (“End of an unjust law”, September 28). The verdict comes as a shot in the arm for a community that has long been marginalised and ostracised and is a significant step towards its social acceptance. A country aspiring to be a superpower cannot achieve this goal if its underprivileged sections are perennially discriminated against and oppressed.

B. Suresh Kumar, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu

THE Supreme Court verdict decriminalising gay sex put an end to the 19th century sexual apartheid and ejected from legal precedent the verdict of 2013 that illegalised homosexuality. One should not forget that LGBT people have every right to lead a dignified life without restrictions or fear. The court corrected a wrong through this landmark ruling. It is time for all right-thinking individuals in society to adopt a progressive attitude in the face of stiff opposition from religious groups.

K.R. Srinivasan, Secunderabad, Telangana

FROM September 24 to October 1, the Supreme Court delivered judgments in important cases. However, in other cases that were decided recently, the Supreme Court acquitted two people accused of rape 28 years ago and another court passed an order in favour of a petitioner 41 years after a case was filed for non-payment of Rs.312, but the petitioner had expired in 2005.

The large number of vacancies of judges, magistrates and other staff in courts across the country and the loopholes through which litigants drag out cases are two reasons for the pile-up of cases. Lakhs of accused people have been rotting in jails for years waiting for their cases to get heard.

Even with additional judges and staff and even if courts are made to work 24×7, it would be a gigantic task to clear the backlog. Legal experts need to be appointed to study the issue and come up with solutions to solve this problem.

Ashok K. Nihalani, Pune, Maharashtra