Writ in HC for Men’s Commission
I have filed a Writ Petition in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court praying for formation of National and State level Men’s Commission to look after specific men oriented issues and problems.
In the petition I have said that it cannot be disagreed that even today women in our society tend have more difficult position vis-à-vis men and they have a large number of special and specific problems associated with them, often resulting in serious women related offences.
At the same time, with the changing social scenario a large number of women have come to occupy strong social, economic and educational status. Instances of many such empowered women misusing their superior position and women-centric laws against men have also started coming up.
Previously I had sent representations to Cabinet Secretary, Government of India and UP Chief Secretary and have now filed this petition for formation of Men’s Commission for sensitive and empathetic handling of specific men-centric problems.
मैंने आज पुरुषों की समस्याओं को विशेष रूप से देखने के लिए राष्ट्रीय और राज्य स्तर पर पुरुष आयोग बनाये जाने हेतु इलाहाबाद हाई कोर्ट के लखनऊ बेंच में रिट याचिका दायर किया है.
याचिका में मैंने कहा कि इस बात से कोई इनकार नहीं किया जा सकता कि आज भी समाज में पुरुषों की तुलना में औसतन महिलाओं की स्थिति कमजोर है और महिलाओं के विभिन्न प्रकार के गंभीर उत्पीडन की घटनाएँ हमेशा सामने आती रहती हैं.
लेकिन इसके साथ यह भी सत्य है कि सामाजिक परिवर्तन के साथ आज पहले की तुलना में बड़ी संख्या में ऐसी महिलायें समाज में हैं जो सामाजिक, आर्थिक, शैक्षिक दृष्टि से मजबूत हैं. ऐसी कई सशक्त महिलाओं द्वारा अपने श्रेष्ठतर प्रभाव और स्थान और महिला-संदर्भित कानूनों का प्रयोग कर पुरुषों का उत्पीडन करने की भी बातें अब सामने आ रही हैं.
मैंने पूर्व में कैबिनेट सचिव, भारत सरकार और मुख्य सचिव, उत्तर प्रदेश सरकार को पत्र भेज कर कार्यवाही की मांग की थी और अब पुरुष-सम्बन्धी मामलों में पुरुषों की विशिष्ट समस्याओं की संवेदनशील अनुभूति और निराकरण के लिए पुरुष आयोग बनाए जाने हेतु यह याचिका दायर किया है.
In the
Hon’ble High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench, Lucknow
Writ petition No- of 2014 (M/B)
Amitabh Thakur Petitioner
Versus
Union of India and another Respondents
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Memo of
Writ Petition
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Annexure
No 1
Representations dated 12/06/2014 sent to Cabinet Secretary, Government of India and Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh |
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Copy of Identity Proof
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Affidavit
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Lucknow Amitabh Thakur
Dated- 03/09/2014 Petitioner in Person
# 94155-34526
Dated- 03/09/2014 Petitioner in Person
# 94155-34526
In the
Hon’ble High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench, Lucknow
Writ petition No- of 2014 (M/B)
Amitabh Thakur Petitioner
Versus
Union of India and another Respondents
LIST OF DATES AND EVENTS
S No Date Event
1. 16/06/1968 Petitioner’s birth as a male child
2. 03/06/1993 Petitioner getting married
3. 1990 National Commission for
Women
4. 2004 UP State Commission for
Women
5. 12/06/2014 Representations sent to the respondents
It is universally recognized and accepted that women have very
special and specific problems related with them and many a times they need a
very sensitive and distinct treatment, even at the State level, which would
give them the support to overcome the various social, societal, educational,
economic, cultural and gender-based differentiation and discriminations. This
has resulted in formation of various women centric laws and creation of special
bodies like the National Commission for Women and the UP State Commission for
Women.
But at the same time, the fact is that with changing times, today
more and more such situations are emerging where even women are seen misusing
their empowered and enhanced social, educational, economic, cultural power and
authority and even her legal rights bestowed to then as women for improper
ends, harassing men. It is true that this is not as large as the mistreatment
of women by men but the number and instances are definitely increasing. Some of
these cases are extremely sensitive and critical and the lack of a specialized
body catering to such males is proving extremely detrimental to ameliorate the
pain, anguish and harassment of such males.
The petitioner, as a male, is personally feeling the requirement
of such specialized Men’s commission (known by whatever name) at national and
state level, both through his experiences around and also through his personal
experiences where he feels he is a sufferer solely for being a male.
Hence this Writ petition
Lucknow
Amitabh Thakur
Dated- 03/09/2014 Petitioner in Person
# 94155-34526
Dated- 03/09/2014 Petitioner in Person
# 94155-34526
In the
Hon’ble High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench, Lucknow
Writ petition No- of 2014 (M/B)
Amitabh Thakur, aged about 46 years, son of
Sri T N Thakur r/o 5/426, Viram Khand, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow ------ Petitioner
Versus
1.
Union of India through Cabinet Secretary, Government of India, New
Delhi- 110001
2.
State of UP, through Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh,
Civil secretariat, Lucknow ---- Respondents
Writ
Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India
To,
The Hon’ble
Chief Justice and His other Hon’ble companion Judges of the aforesaid Court:
The humble
petition of the above named petitioners most respectfully begs to submit as
under
1. That by means
of this petition being filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India,
the petitioner prays before this Hon’ble Court to kindly direct the respondents
to form any appropriate Authority/commission/body which shall cater specially
to the needs/grievances/requirements/problems of the petitioner as a male almost
identical to the manner in which the National Commission for Women and the
Uttar Pradesh State Women Commission look after the specific
problems/grievances/issues related with women in India and the State of Uttar
Pradesh respectively, so that the petitioner, a male, can present his various grievances
that he faces as a man, in such cases where he feels great necessity of having
a specific independent body to look after his issues and problems as a male but
has to stop midway due to absence of any such authority/body, either in
accordance with his representations dated 12/06/2014 sent to the respondents or
otherwise.
The
petitioner declares that he has not filed any other Writ petition before the
Hon’ble Court either at Allahabad or its Lucknow bench pertaining to the
subject matter and/ or for the relief prayed for in the instant writ petition
and it is further declared that in respect of the same subject, no caveat
notice has been received by the petitioner.
A copy of
the two representations sent respectively to the Union of India and the State
of UP through the Cabinet Secretary, Government of India and the Chief
Secretary, UP Government on 12/06/2014 are being attached as Annexure No 1.
2.
That the matter of fact is that the petitioner is a male aged
around 46 years. He is married to Dr Nutan Thakur, a social activist in her own
rights and now an Advocate practicing before this Hon’ble Court. He is by
profession an IPS officer of UP Cadre, presently posted as Joint Director
(Civil Defence)/Inspector General, Civil Defence, UP.
3.
That the petitioner, possibly like many
other males, also faces many unique problems being a male.
4.
That the petitioner fully understands,
realizes and appreciates the fact that in the society at large and particularly
in the Indian society, women in general occupy a more difficult place vis-à-vis
the male counterparts. Thus, it is universally accepted that women face many
specific and special problems as being a woman. The nature of society, its long
time evolution, its complexion, its ethos, its values, culture and mores are
such that generally it gives a natural advantage to men compared to women. Thus,
to quite some extent, men enjoy or pretend to enjoy a status of superiority as
compared to women. This can be seen in the families, this can be seen in the
houses, this can be seen in offices and in public places. Thus, the position of
men being generally better-off mentally, socially, culturally, educationally
and economically compared to women is often seen.
5.
That what has been said above as
regards the respective positions of men and women has many a times been seen by
the petitioner as well and he is also fully convinced that generally the male
seem to enjoy a definite superior position compared to women as regards various
aspects of life.
6.
That many a times this superior
position also results in men misusing their authority vis-à-vis women in
various ways. This can result in women atrocities, women harassment, sexual assault,
social ostracization, economic impropriety and many other kinds of women
related grievances, hurt, humiliation, torture, crime, offence and so on.
7.
That as a sensitive human being and as
a sensitive male, the petitioner never for once denies this obvious fact that
in general the position of women in society often comes as being inferior to
males and hence he also believes that the women need to have some special
bodies that can look after specific needs, their special demands, their
complaints etc
8.
That it is for these reasons that the
Indian Parliament came up with the National Commission for Women Act 1990 under
which the National Commission for Women was formed to review the
Constitutional and Legal safeguards for women ;
recommend remedial legislative measures ; facilitate redressal of grievances and advise
the Government on all policy matters affecting women. In keeping with its mandate,
the Commission initiates various steps to improve the status of women and
worked for their economic empowerment during the year under report. It
receives a large number of complaints and acts suo-moto in several cases
to provide speedy justice. It takes up many women related issues. It
organizes workshops/consultations, constitutes expert committees on economic empowerment
of women, conducts workshops/seminars for gender awareness and takes up
publicity campaign against female foeticide, violence against women, etc. in
order to generate awareness in the society against these social evils.
9.
That
in the same vein, the Uttar Pradesh legislature came up with the Uttar Pradesh
State Women Commission Act 2004 with almost similar objectives and area of
activities, aimed specifically to the state of Uttar Pradesh
10.
That the need and importance of these
two Commissions is universally acknowledged by one and all, the petitioner
being no exception to the rule and he fully appreciates and endorses their
presence and their need.
11.
That but at the same time, there is
another aspect that needs to be understood
12.
That it is the fact and the realization
that with changing times, the society is changing. What used to be the
situation a hundred years ago is not the situation as it exists today. Even during
the last few years, there has been a massive change in the situation and the
circumstances in the society. The position of male and female has although been
changing. More and more women are becoming empowered. There are many women now
in the society who are educationally, socially, economically, culturally,
politically very strong. To name only a few, various women film stars like Ms
Gul Panag, Ms Hema Malini, Ms Vaijayanti Mala, Ms Nagma, Ms Kirron Kher, many
women politicians like Ms Mayawati, Ms Anuradha Chaudhary, Ms Mamata Banerjee,
Ms jayalalitha, Ms Vasundhara Raje, Ms Uma Bharati, Ms Sushma Swaraj, many
industrial barons like Ms Kiran Shaw Mazumdar, Ms Akhila Sriniwasan, Ms Shahnaz
Hussein, Ms Sharan Appa Rao, Ms Ekta Kapoor, many bankers like Ms Chanda
Kochar, Ms Shikha Sharma, Ms Naina Lal Kidwai and many other women achievers of
India and world level are there in every field of life. Thus, we have hundreds
of IAS officers, a few hundred IPS officers, thousands of class I officers,
lakhs of class II and class III officers, a very large number of teachers,
academicians, social activists, advocates and college professors from the women
folk. Every year one finds the women topping many of the competitive exams and
excelling over men in various board examinations.
13.
That what the above facts state is that
though women still have, in general, a position allegedly supportive and
subordinate to men, but in reality a substantial percent of women are today
defying this rule. What is even more important is the fact that this number is
rapidly increasing by the day and the number of empowered/enlightened and
strengthened women is growing by leaps and bounds. The natural result of this burgeoning
power, prestige and affluence of the women-folk is that more and more such
situations are arising where the women is not necessarily at the losing end.
14.
That hence unlike the previous times,
when the only possibility perhaps was for the men to harass, suppress, torture,
ill-treat, condemn, castigate and chastise the women, through their superior
mental, physical, social, educational, cultural, economic positions, today the
time has come when there are any number of women who are superiorly placed than
many men, in so many aspects.
15.
That as a result there are more and
more examples of women misusing their authorities, power, prestige and position
in different ways to harass, suppress, torture, ill-treat, condemn, castigate
and chastise men. Today such instances are not unknown but their number is
growing by the day. Since what really matters in any male-female equation is
the respective power (in its totality) enjoyed by the male and female, in so
many examples the women use their superior power to misuse it to harass the
men.
16.
That as is well-known, there are many
ways of harassing a person. While physical pain and torture are measurable and
quantifiable, mental pain and anguish caused due to any kind of mental torture does
not come to be easily measured or identified. Hence, in all such cases where a
woman is using her superior power and position to misuse it against her husband
or against any other male may not fall under any of the crimes and offences
defined in the various penal provisions and yet keep on happening. Thus the
anomaly that results out of this situation is that while in the case of men
harassing the women mentally, the women have the legal recourse and can
register certain complaints under the sections of the Indian Penal Code and the
Domestic Violence Act, 2005 among others, in all such cases where the women are
using the cruel tactics of mental harassment, the men are having no legal
recourse per se. What is worse is that they are not having any such body as the
National and State Women Commission where they may move to share their pain and
complaints and get appropriate relief in the form of immediate intervention at
the higher level. Thus, as can be seen
from the recent Badaun incidence or so many other cases of alleged women
harassment and torture, the National and State Women Commission are often ready
to intervene and interject in the matter, sometimes even suo motu even without
getting any complaint at any end, in all such cases of male harassment by
female, the poor man has no place to rush in. As explained earlier, if the
harassment being bestowed by the woman is not of the nature that can come in
the purview of some criminal offence, then the petitioner, as a man/male has no
place to go to and has no official authority or body where he can present his
case, where he can beg for amelioration, where he can share his pain and
anguish and where he can pray for any kind of relief
17.
That
other than the situation where the women in superior position are seen misusing
their superior position to harass the men, another set of women related
harassment are also quite common now. It is the misuse of law and the legal
options by women. The misuse of the
provisions of section 498A IPC is often alleged by a large number of people,
where a substantial number of people are there to say that they were wrongly,
unnecessarily and improperly framed under section 498A IPC. Though not in large
number, but in a few cases, even the misuse of other provisions of women
related crimes is also mentioned. In short, today a situation has arrived where
a reasonable number of cases are seen where misuse of the women related crimes
is being alleged.
18.
That the petitioner does not say that
all these allegations of false cases is actually true. There are definitely
such people who start talking of misuse of law when they find themselves on the
wrong side of law and start attempting this Raga as the gateway for getting away
from the crime. But at the same time, it is no more unheard that a reasonable
percentage of cases are there where the false implication of male by female
through women related offences is actually being done and where the male has no
such body like the Women Commission where he can move to get his voice heard
and his grievances redressed.
19.
That this must have been the reason for
the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India to state in Arnesh Kumar vs State of Bihar
and Another (Criminal Appeal
No. 1277 OF 2014 @Special Leave Petition (crim) No.9127 of 2013) as follows-“The fact that Section 498-A is a
cognizable and non-bailable offence has lent it a dubious place of pride
amongst the provisions that are used as weapons rather than shield by
disgruntled wives. The simplest way to harass is to get the husband and his
relatives arrested under this provision. In a quite number of cases bed-ridden
grand-fathers and grand-mothers of the husbands, their sisters living abroad
for decades are arrested.”
20.
That even the petitioner’s wife, Dr
Nutan Thakur, a well-known social activist and now an advocate, often says that
all the laws are such that they are in favour of women and the petitioner, as a
male, has no place to get any kind of relief, because not only the law but even
the perception and the administrative machinery in the shape of various Women
Commissions are very strongly tilted towards men. Though the petitioner and his
wife an extremely cordial relation but there are occasions when they have a
tiff and on such occasions he does feel the handicap of a men’s body catering
specially to the need of the men where they could go and register their
grievances and get the issue resolved. While there are already women bodies and
there are law courts but there are many occasions when the petitioner has
strongly needed a body having the sensitivity to understand the issues and
problems related specially with male.
21.
That again, many a times, the
petitioner feels threatened to interact with women because an inherent fear of
the women having an advantageous position of pointing fingers and making false
allegations, remains in the petitioner’s mind where he understands that the
moment a woman would make such an allegations, all the Women Commission will
side with the woman even if the allegations be incorrect. Here again he has
always strongly felt the need of a specialized Men’s commission.
22.
That in another instance, there is a
senior officer in the petitioner’s department (name not being taken because
that is not the focus of the matter) who is generally believed to have some
kind of psychological antipathy against men in general. The reason could be
best known to her but the fact, as regularly seen and realized by many in a
unanimous manner, is that there seems to be some inherent and latent anti-male
sentiment in that officer. The petitioner is a personal sufferer of this, which
might possibly be the result of this officer’s anti-male feelings. Since the
way in which the petitioner got personally affected through the misandry
(anti-male feeling) of that particular officer, as felt by the petitioner and
certain other male IPS officers as well. The petitioner has presented some of
these facts before his Department but he does clearly feel the need for a
specialized Commission with the required sensitivity, attitude and approach
towards men which could take care of the petitioner’s grievances in a better
manner
23.
That what the above
facts mean is that the petitioner, as a male, is a person aggrieved in this
case and he seems to strongly need some definite administrative body for
protecting his interests as a male, just the way the Women Commissions are
there to protect the interests of women. Thus, as a male, the petitioner also
needs National Commission and a State Commission for Men to review the
Constitutional and Legal safeguards for men ;
recommend remedial legislative measures ; facilitate redressal of grievances and advise
the Government on all policy matters affecting men and to look after the
interests of male in all possible ways.
24.
That the petitioner, never for once denies the fact that on the
larger canvass the majority of oppression on the gender level would be by the
men against women but it does not take away or dilute the fact that there are enough
number of exceptions to this rule, including the above mentioned incidences
related with the petitioner, where the reverse might also be true and where the
male is being harassed solely for being a male and the female is using her
advantageous social, economic, cultural, educational, marital position or even
the fact of her being a female to harass, torture, exploit, hurt or even ruin a
male.
25.
That hence in the prevailing circumstances, Article 14 (Equality
before law The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or
the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India Prohibition of
discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth)
seems to mandate that two persons harassed solely because of their gender (one
a female harassed by a male and another a male harassed by a female) cannot be
differentially treated.
26.
That similarly Article 15(1) (The State shall not discriminate
against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of
birth or any of them) again seems to mandate the same thing for all persons
(male and female) being harassed by persons of other gender using their
superior position and authority in any possible manner and also seem to
prima-facie restrict differential treatment between men and women as far as taking
care of the members of a particular gender as against the harassment, torture,
pain, ill-treatment, misuse of authority and position (social, educational,
economic, legal or whatsoever) is concerned
27.
That again while Article 15(3) (Nothing in this article shall
prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children)
holds completely true and also provides right to the State to cater to the
special needs of women and the petitioner also welcomes and truly appreciates
these measures being adopted by the State for the welfare of women being
harassed solely for being women or being placed in second category in the
society in any manner, so that the women get uplifted in equal measures as men
in all possible manners, here the issue being raised by the petitioner is as
regards those men who feel threatened, harassed, tortured by such set of women who are misusing their
superior authority. Hence, Article 15(3) stands true while at the same time
Article 14 and 15 along with various other fundamental rights clearly seem to
mandate that the State also looks after the issues and problems related with
all such male who are being harassed and tortured by women solely on the basis
of gender and misuse of their authority.
28.
That it is kindly prayed that here
the petitioner, as an individual, is an affected party as explained in details
in above Para where he has explained why the lack of an appropriate forum
specially meant for men is also adversely affecting him. Thus, here the
petitioner is a ‘person affected’.
29.
That the Hon’ble Supreme Court
in Dr. Duryodhan Sahu And Ors vs Jitendra Kumar Mishra And
Or (AIR 1999 SC 114) said-“16.In Thammanna versus
K. Veera Reddy and other (1980) 4 S.C.C. 62 it was held that although the
meaning of the expression 'person aggrieved' may vary according to the context
of the statute and the facts of the case, nevertheless normally, a person
aggrieved must be a man who has suffered a legal grievance, a man against whom
a decision has been pronounced which has wrongfully deprived him of something
or wrongfully refused him something or wrongfully affected his title to
something. 17.In Jasbhai Motibhai Desai Versus Roshan Kumar Haji Bashir Ahmed
and others (1976) 1.S.C.C. 671 the Court held that the expression 'aggrieved person'
donotes an elastic, and to an extent, an elusive concept. The Court observed:
"...It cannot be confined within the bounds of a rigid, exact, and
comprehensive definition. At best, its features can be described in a broad
tentative manner. Its scope and meaning depends on diverse, variable factors
such as the content and intent of the statute of which contravention is
alleged, the specific circumstances of the case, the nature and extent of the
petitioner's interest, and the nature and extent of the prejudice or injury
suffered by him.”
30.
That it can be easily seen that person
aggrieved must be one who has suffered a legal grievance, which is the
situation with the petitioner here because the lack of a forum is adversely
affecting him and denying him an opportunity to present his grievances which he
could have undertaken in all cases where he feels he is getting harassed as a
male by a female and has no appropriate forum which would hear his pain and
anguish and take appropriate legal and administrative steps to ameliorate them.
31.
That the question being raised is as
regards the need to have a Commission exclusively to deal with men’s problems
and issues. The question is related with the fundamental aspects related with
the need for any kind of Commissions.
32.
That it is well-known that most of
these Commissions do not provide any extra legal impetus than the already
existing ones and a large number of such Commissions have been formed based solely
on the fundamental hypothesis that these Commissions shall have a sensitive,
extra-cautious, sympathetic and empathetic perspective as regards the specific
sections they are catering to. Thus despite often being blamed by detractors as
being toothless entities, the National and State SC ST Commissions, Minorities
Commissions, Women Commissions, Backward Class Commissions etc are certainly
serving a very definite purpose of having and keeping an extra-cautious and
sympathetic point of view to the specific problems faced by people belonging to
these sections, from an insider perspective.
33.
That thus the most important thing done
by these Commissions is to have a sympathetic and empathetic understanding of
the people belonging to a particular section and in this way, the petitioner,
as a male also deserves and seems to have a right to have such a Commission
specifically oriented to his needs as a male where he is being harassed or
deprived solely for being a male
34.
That the issues raised here are related
with day to day happening and can erupt any time at any place and the lack of
an appropriate forum for grievance redressal etc is like a permanent hanging
Damocles sword whose urgency and imminence can never be contested/denied.
35.
That the petitioner understands that
the National and State Women Commission are statutory bodies and this Hon’ble
Court cannot direct formation of a new law. Hence all he prays before this
Hon’ble Court, is to direct the respondents to create a specialized Men’s body
(known as Men’s Commission or whatever name) through an appropriate
administrative order, in view of the petitioner’s legal and constitutional
mandate of equality in equal situations as a harassed person, to have a
specialized body to listen his gender-based grievances and to act upon them
just as Women Commission are doing for women related matters.
36.
That the petitioner had presented two
representations respectively to the Union of India and the State of UP through
the Cabinet Secretary, Government of India and the Chief Secretary, UP
Government on 12/06/2014 where he had presented all these facts being presented
here in the Writ Petition and had accordingly prayed before the respondents to
kindly consider his representation and form an appropriate Commission of
whatever appropriate nature to look after the specific needs of the petitioner
and other males. A copy of these representations have been attached as Annexure
No 1.
37.
That the petitioner did understand the
fact that this Hon’ble High Court may not directly issue positive directions as
regards creation of a new administrative body by the name of Men’s Commission
or whatever for the specific purposes being mentioned here on the grounds of
its being a policy matter and it was for this reason that instead of directly
approaching this Hon’ble Court, the petitioner had first approached the concerned
respondents through his representations mentioned above, on which the
respondents are necessitated to take some considerate decision through some
speaking order where they may either accept or refute the petitioner’s prayers
raised in the representation.
38.
That it is the stated policy of the two
respondents to cater to the public grievances presented by the citizen to them
and both the respondents have framed an elaborate arrangement to cater to
public grievances
39.
That the State of UP through, a Government
Order No 780/43-2-2004-14/2(25)/2002 dated 08/09/2004, passed by the
Department of Administrative Reforms, has talked of
public grievance redressal which said-“शासन
के विभिन्न विभागों के समस्त कार्यालयों के समस्त अधिकारी/कर्मचारी अपने कार्यालय पर, चाहे वह कार्यालय ब्लाक स्तर, थाना स्तर, तहसील स्तर अथवा किसी भी अन्य स्तर पर स्थित है, पर मंगलवार तथा रविवार को छोड़ कर शेष सभी कार्य दिवसों पर पूर्वाह्न 10.00 बजे से 12.00 बजे के मध्य मुख्यालय पर अनिवार्य रूप से उपलब्ध रह कर जनता की शिकायतों और समस्याओं को सुनेंगे तथा उन्हें पंजीबद्ध कर के शासन द्वारा पूर्व में निर्धारित समयसीमा के अनुरूप उनका निस्तारण करेंगे”, a fact that was reiterated umpteen number of times, one of the latest
such occasions being the GO dated 21/12/2012 passed under the signature of
Principal Secretary of the Administrative Reforms Department.
40.
That again the Chief Secretary of UP through
a GO dated 15/05/2012 had clearly stated-“जनता
की समस्याओं व शिकायतों के त्वरित निस्तारण हेतु शासन कटिबद्ध है”, other than instructing all officers at all ranks and positions to take
appropriate action in each public complaint in a time-bound manner.
41.
That similarly there is a Department of
Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances under the Ministry of
Personnel, Public
Grievances and Pensions, Government of India, as
the chief coordinating agency for redress of public grievances arising from the
work of Ministries/Departments and other Organizations of Government of India.
42.
That
the Internal Grievances Redress Machinery is now also in existence in various
the Ministries and Departments of Government of India. An officer of the rank
of Joint Secretary is designated as Director of Public Grievances who is vested
with the powers to call for files/papers relating to public grievances in cases
in which a decision is pending for more than three months and take a decision
with the approval of Secretary/head of the Department of the
Ministry/Department concerned, even though the matter is not within his normal
scope of duties. The Ministries/Departments are also observing Wednesdays as
meeting less days when Directors of Public Grievances are available from 10.00
hrs in their rooms to hear and receive grievances of the citizens.
43.
That
as early as 04/11/1992, a Office Memorandum (OM, for short) titled
“Strengthening of Machinery for Redressal of Public Grievances’ was passed by
the
Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, which talked of a previous OM dated 01/03/1988 regarding setting up of
internal grievance redressal mechanism and appointment of a full-time grievance
redressal officer This OM dated 04/11/1992 had clearly stated-“Every Grievance
Petition must be acknowledged. Even if no action is warranted on petition, a
reply stating the stand of the ministry/department must be sent to the petitioner.”
44.
That there is also an OM dated 07/10/1996
regarding inclusion of public Grievance redressal work and receipt disposal
statistics in the Annual action plan of various Ministries
45.
That despite such elaborate mechanism for redressal of public
grievance, the petitioners representations dated 12/06/2014 sent to the two
respondents have not been heard and his grievance remains unheard and unheeded
which provides the petitioner a definite legal right to approach this Hon’ble
Court and in such circumstances, the plea of policy matter and the limitation
of this Hon’ble Court to issue a definite writ of mandamus does not hold forth
because the respondents are bound to take a definite decision on the petitioner
grievance presented by him to the respondents and this Hon’ble Court may definitely
direct the respondents either to create the Men’s Commission prayed by the
petitioner through his representations or to decide over the matter through a
speaking order based on the entirety of facts and circumstances
46.
That in such circumstances, having no any efficacious and effective
alternative remedy available to the petitioner and the matter being extremely
important to him so as to necessitate him pursuing the matter further, this
writ petition is being filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India on
the following amongst other grounds
47.
That the
petitioner’s photograph and Identity proof have been enclosed along with
GROUNDS
(1)
Because it is universally recognized and accepted that women have
very special and specific problems related with them and many a times they need
a very sensitive and distinct treatment, even at the State level, which would
give them the support to overcome the various social, societal, educational,
economic, cultural and gender-based differentiation and discriminations which
has resulted in formation of various women centric laws and creation of special
bodies like the National Commission for Women and the UP State Commission for
Women.
(2)
Because at the same time, with changing times, today more and more
such situations and instances are emerging where even women are seen misusing
their empowered and enhanced social, educational, economic, cultural power and
authority and even her legal rights bestowed to then as women for improper
ends, harassing men.
(3)
Because some of these cases are extremely sensitive and critical
and the lack of a specialized body catering to such males is proving extremely
detrimental to ameliorate the pain, anguish and harassment of such males.
(4)
Because the petitioner, as a male, strongly feels the requirement
of such specialized Men’s commission (known by whatever name) at national and
state level, both through his experiences around and also through his personal
experiences where he feels he is a sufferer solely for being a male
(5)
Because Article 14 and 15 along with the other Constitutional
provisions seem to mandate the respondents to create specialized bodies for
men’s grievances as well
(6)
Because today there is a need for specialized body/commission with
due sensitivity and empathy to look into the specific issues faced by people
solely for being a male
(7)
Because the petitioner had presented representations dated
12/06/2014 to both the respondents where he presented his grievances and prayed
for creation of Men’s Commission but so far the grievance of the petitioner has
remained unheard
(8)
Because it is the definite and stated policy of the two
respondents, as explained in the Writ Petition, to cater to and redress the
various grievances presented to them by public but such a thing has not
happened in this particular case and the petitioner’s representations remain
unheard
PRAYER
Wherefore,
it is most respectfully prayed that this Hon’ble Court may be pleased to-
a.
kindly issue a Writ in the nature of mandamus directing the
respondents to form any appropriate Authority /commission/ body which shall
cater specially to the needs/ grievances/ requirements/problems of the male/men
almost identical to the manner in which the National Commission for Women and
the Uttar Pradesh State Women Commission look after the specific
problems/grievances/issues related with women in India and the State of Uttar
Pradesh respectively, taking into consideration the representations dated
12/06/2014 (Annexure No 1) or otherwise, so that the petitioner, a male, can
present his various grievances that he faces as a man, in such cases where he
feels great necessity of having a specific independent body to look after his
issues and problems as a male but has to stop midway due to absence of any such
authority/body
b. kindly issue
a Writ in the nature of mandamus directing the two respondents to decide over
the petitioner’s representations dated 12/06/2014 (Annexure No 1) addressed to
them for formation of an appropriate Authority /commission/ body for men
through a speaking order taking all the facts and circumstances into
consideration, within a definite time-period, say 1 month
Lucknow
Amitabh Thakur
Dated- 03/09/2014 Petitioner in person
# 94155-34526
Dated- 03/09/2014 Petitioner in person
# 94155-34526
In the
Hon’ble High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench, Lucknow
Writ petition No- of 2014 (M/B)
Amitabh Thakur Petitioner
Versus
Union of India and another Respondents
AFFIDAVIT
I, Amitabh
Thakur, aged about 46 years, s/o Sri T N Thakur, religion Hinduism, Education-
B Tech, profession- government service (Indian Police Service, presently
Inspector General, Civil Defence, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow), r/o 5/426, Viram
Khand, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow- the deponent, do hereby solemnly affirm and state
on oath as under -
1. That the
deponent is the sole Petitioner in the above noted petition and as such he is
fully conversant with the facts and circumstances of the case, deposed to
hereunder.
2. That the
contents of the paragraphs of the Writ petition are true to my
personal knowledge, based on documents and records and believed to be true or are based on legal
advice.
3. That the
Annexure No 1 is a true copy of its originals.
Place Lucknow
(Amitabh Thakur)
Date- 03/09/2014 Deponent
VERIFICATION
I, the
deponent above named, do hereby verify that the contents of paragraphs 1 to 3
above this Affidavit are true and correct to my knowledge and belief. No part
of it is false and nothing material has been concealed. So, help me God
Signed and
verified this the day
of 2014 at Lucknow
Deponent
Identification
I identify the deponent, on the basis of
records produced before me, who has signed before me.
Advocate
Solemnly affirmed me on at am/pm by the
deponent Amitabh Thakur, who has been identified by Sri clerk to Sri ,
Advocate, high court, Lucknow Bench, Lucknow
I have satisfied myself by examining the
deponent that he understands the contents of this Affidavit which have been
read over and explained to her by me
Oath
Commissioner
To,
The Cabinet Secretary,
Government of India,
New Delhi
The Cabinet Secretary,
Government of India,
New Delhi
Subject- Formation
of a National Men’s Commission
Sir,
1.
That by
means of this petition, the petitioner prays before you to kindly form an appropriate
National Authority/commission/body which shall cater specially to the
needs/grievances/requirements/problems of the male/men almost identical to the
manner in which the National Commission for Women looks after the specific
problems/grievances/issues related with women in India, so that the petitioner
and all other males, can present their various grievances that they face as a
man, in such cases where they feels great necessity of having a specific independent
body to look after their issues and problems as a male but have to stop midway
due to absence of any such authority/body.
2. That the matter of fact is that the
petitioner is a male aged around 46 years. He is married to Dr Nutan Thakur, a
social activist in her own rights. He is by profession an IPS officer of UP
Cadre, presently posted as Joint Director (Civil Defence)/Inspector General,
Civil Defence, UP, but he writes this letter in his individual capacity as a
male citizen of this nation.
3. That the
petitioner, like many other males, faces many unique problems being a male. He
fully understands, realizes and appreciates the fact that in the society at
large and particularly in the Indian society, women in general occupy a more
difficult place vis-à-vis the male counterparts. Thus, it is universally
accepted that women face many specific and special problems as being a woman.
The nature of society, its long time evolution, its complexion, its ethos, its
values, culture and mores are such that generally it gives a natural advantage
to men compared to women. Thus, to quite some extent, men enjoy or pretend to
enjoy a status of superiority as compared to women. This can be seen in the
families, this can be seen in the houses, this can be seen in offices and in
public places. Thus, the position of men being generally better-off mentally,
socially, culturally, educationally and economically compared to women is often
seen.
4. That what has been
said above as regards the respective positions of men and women has many a
times been seen by the petitioner as well and he is also fully convinced that
generally the male seem to enjoy a definite superior position compared to women
as regards various aspects of life.
5. That many a times
this superior position also results in men misusing their authority vis-à-vis
women in various ways. This can result in women atrocities, women harassment,
sexual assault, social ostracization, economic impropriety and many other kinds
of women related grievances, hurt, humiliation, torture, crime, offence and so
on.
6. That as a
sensitive human being and as a sensitive male, the petitioner never for once
denies this obvious fact that in general the position of women in society often
comes as being inferior to males and hence he also believes that the women need
to have some special bodies that can look after specific needs, their special
demands, their complaints etc
7. That it is for
these reasons that the Indian Parliament came up with the National Commission
for Women Act 1990 under which the National Commission for Women was formed to review the Constitutional and Legal
safeguards for women ; recommend
remedial legislative measures ;
facilitate redressal of grievances and advise the Government on all
policy matters affecting women. In keeping with its mandate, the Commission
initiates various steps to improve the status of women and worked for their
economic empowerment during the year under report. It receives a large number
of complaints and acts suo-moto in several cases to provide speedy
justice. It takes up many women related issues. It organizes
workshops/consultations, constitutes expert committees on economic empowerment
of women, conducts workshops/seminars for gender awareness and takes up
publicity campaign against female foeticide, violence against women, etc. in
order to generate awareness in the society against these social evils.
8. That in the same vein, various State
legislature came up with the State Women Commission Acts with almost similar
objectives and area of activities, aimed specifically to the respective states
9. That the need and
importance of these Commissions is universally acknowledged by one and all, the
petitioner being no exception to the rule and he fully appreciates and endorses
their presence and their need.
10. That but at the
same time, there is another aspect that needs to be understood
11. That it is the
fact and the realization that with changing times, the society is changing.
What used to be the situation a hundred years ago is not the situation as it
exists today. Even during the last few years, there has been a massive change
in the situation and the circumstances in the society. The position of male and
female has although been changing. More and more women are becoming empowered.
There are many women now in the society who are educationally, socially,
economically, culturally, politically very strong. To name only a few, various
women film stars like Ms Gul Panag, Ms Hema Malini, Ms Vaijayanti Mala, Ms
Nagma, Ms Kirron Kher, many women politicians like Ms Mayawati, Ms Anuradha
Chaudhary, Ms Mamata Banerjee, Ms jayalalitha, Ms Vasundhara Raje, Ms Uma
Bharati, Ms Sushma Swaraj, many industrial barons like Ms Kiran Shaw Mazumdar,
Ms Akhila Sriniwasan, Ms Shahnaz Hussein, Ms Sharan Appa Rao, Ms Ekta Kapoor,
many bankers like Ms Chanda Kochar, Ms Shikha Sharma, Ms Naina Lal Kidwai and
many other women achievers of India and world level are there in every field of
life. Thus, we have hundreds of IAS officers, a few hundred IPS officers,
thousands of class I officers, lakhs of class II and class III officers, a very
large number of teachers, academicians and college professors from the women
folk. Every year one finds the women topping many of the competitive exams and
excelling over men in various board examinations.
12. That what the
above facts state is that though women still have, in general, a position
allegedly supportive and subordinate to men, but in reality a substantial
percent of women are today defying this rule. What is even more important is
the fact that this number is rapidly increasing by the day and the number of
empowered/enlightened and strengthened women is growing by leaps and bounds.
The natural result of this burgeoning power, prestige and affluence of the
women-folk is that more and more such situations are arising where the women is
not necessarily at the losing end.
13. That hence unlike
the previous times, when the only possibility perhaps was for the men to
harass, suppress, torture, ill-treat, condemn, castigate and chastise the
women, through their superior mental, physical, social, educational, cultural,
economic positions, today the time has come when there would be any number of
women who are superior placed than many men, in so many aspects.
14. That as a result
there are more and more examples of women misusing their authorities, power,
prestige and position in different ways to harass, suppress, torture,
ill-treat, condemn, castigate and chastise men. Today such instances are not unknown
but their number is growing by the day. Since what really matters in any
male-female equation is the respective power (in its totality) enjoyed by the
male and female, in so many examples the women use their superior power to
misuse it to harass the men.
15. That as is
well-known, there are many ways of harassing a person. While physical pain and
torture are measurable and quantifiable, mental pain and anguish caused due to
any kind of mental torture does not come to be easily measured or identified.
Hence, in all such cases where a woman is using her superior power and position
to misuse it against her husband or against any other male may not fall under
any of the crimes and offences defined in the various penal provisions and yet
keep on happening. Thus the anomaly that results out of this situation is that
while in the case of men harassing the women mentally, the women have the legal
recourse and can register certain complaints under the sections of IPC and the
Domestic Violence Act, among others, in all such cases where the women are
using the cruel tactics of mental harassment, the men are having no legal
recourse per se. What is worse is that they are not having any such body as the
National and State Women Commission where they may move to share their pain and
complaints and get appropriate relief in the form of immediate intervention at
the higher level. Thus, as can be seen
from the recent Badaun incidence or so many other cases of alleged women
harassment and torture, the National and State Women Commission are often ready
to intervene and interject in the matter, sometimes even suo motu even without
getting any complaint at any end, in all such cases of male harassment by
female, the poor man has no place to rush in. As explained earlier, if the
harassment being bestowed by the woman is not of the nature that can come in
the purview of some criminal offence, then the man has no place to go to and
has no official authority or body where he can present his case, where he can
beg for amelioration, where he can share his pain and anguish and where he can
pray for any kind of relief
16. That other than the situation where the women
in superior position are seen misusing their superior position to harass the
men, another set of women related harassment are also quite common now. It is
the misuse of law and the legal options by women. The misuse of the provisions of section 498A
IPC is often alleged by a large number of people, where a substantial number of
people are there to say that they were wrongly, unnecessarily and improperly
framed under section 498A IPC. Though not in large number, but in a few cases,
even the misuse of other provisions of women related crimes is also mentioned.
In short, today a situation has arrived where a reasonable number of cases are
seen where misuse of the women related crimes is being alleged.
17. That the
petitioner does not say that all these allegations of false cases is actually
true. There are definitely such people who start talking of misuse of law when
they find themselves on the wrong side of law and start attempting this Raga as
the gateway for getting away from the crime. But at the same time, it is no
more unheard that a reasonable percentage of cases are there where the false
implication of male by female through women related offences is actually being
done and where the male has no such body like the Women Commission where he can
move to get his voice heard and his grievances redressed.
18. That even the
petitioner’s wife, Dr Nutan Thakur, a well-known social activist, often says
that all the laws are such that they are in favour of women and the petitioner,
as a male, has no place to get any kind of relief, because not only the law but
even the perception and the administrative machinery in the shape of various
Women Commissions are very strongly tilted towards men. Though the petitioner
and his wife an extremely cordial relation but there are occasions when they
have a tiff and on such occasions he does feel the handicap of a men’s body
catering specially to the need of the men where they could go and register
their grievances and get the issue resolved. While there are already women
bodies and there are law courts but there are many occasions when the
petitioner has strongly needed a body having the sensitivity to understand the
issues and problems related specially with male.
19. That again, many a
times, the petitioner feels threatened to interact with women because an
inherent fear of the women having an advantageous position of pointing fingers
and making false allegations, remains in the petitioner’s mind where he
understands that the moment a woman would make such an allegations, all the
Women Commission will side with the woman even if the allegations be incorrect.
Here again he has always strongly felt the need of a specialized Men’s
commission.
20. That in another
instance, there is a senior officer in the petitioner’s department (name not
being taken because that is not the focus of the matter) who is generally
believed to have some kind of psychological antipathy against men in general.
The reason could be best known to her but the fact, as regularly seen and
realized by many in a unanimous manner, is that there seems to be some inherent
and latent anti-male sentiment in that officer. The petitioner is also a sufferer
of this, which might possibly be the result of this officer’s anti-male
feelings.
21. That what the above facts mean is that the petitioner, as a male, is a
person aggrieved in this case and he seems to strongly need some definite
administrative body for protecting his interests as a male, just the way the
Women Commissions are there to protect the interests of women. Thus, as a male,
the petitioner also needs National Commission for Men to review the
Constitutional and Legal safeguards for men ;
recommend remedial legislative measures ; facilitate redressal of grievances and advise
the Government on all policy matters affecting men and to look after the
interests of male in all possible ways.
22. That the petitioner, never for once denies
the fact that on the larger canvass the majority of oppression on the gender
level would be by the men against women but it does not take away or dilute the
fact that there are enough number of exceptions to this rule, including the
above mentioned incidences related with the petitioner, where the reverse might
also be true and where the male is being harassed solely for being a male and
the female is using her advantageous social, economic, cultural, educational,
marital position or even the fact of her being a female to harass, torture,
exploit, hurt or even ruin a male.
23. That hence in the prevailing circumstances,
Article 14 (Equality before law The State shall not deny to any person equality
before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of
India Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or
place of birth) seems to mandate that two persons harassed solely because of
their gender (one a female harassed by a male and another a male harassed by a
female) cannot be differentially treated.
24. That similarly Article 15(1) (The State shall
not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste,
sex, place of birth or any of them) again seems to mandate the same thing for
all persons (male and female) being harassed by persons of other gender using
their superior position and authority in any possible manner and also seem to
prima-facie restrict differential treatment between men and women as far as
taking care of the members of a particular gender as against the harassment,
torture, pain, ill-treatment, misuse of authority and position (social,
educational, economic, legal or whatsoever) is concerned
25. That again while Article 15(3) (Nothing in
this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for
women and children) holds completely true and also provides right to the State
to cater to the special needs of women and the petitioner also welcomes and
truly appreciates these measures being adopted by the State for the welfare of
women being harassed solely for being women or being placed in second category
in the society in any manner, so that the women get uplifted in equal measures
as men in all possible manners, here the issue being raised by the petitioner
is as regards those men who feel threatened, harassed, tortured by such set of women who are misusing their
superior authority. Hence, Article 15(3) stands true while at the same time
Article 14 and 15 along with various other fundamental rights clearly seem to
mandate that the State also looks after the issues and problems related with
all such male who are being harassed and tortured by women solely on the basis
of gender and misuse of their authority.
26.
That it is also prayed that though the primary issue raised in
this Petition are related to larger public interest as well but at the same
time, the petitioner, as an individual, is also an affected party as explained
in details in above Para where he has explained why the lack of an appropriate
forum specially meant for men is also adversely affecting him.
27.
That the petitioner understands that the National and State Women
Commission are statutory bodies and the Central government cannot direct
formation of a new law. Hence all he prays before you is to create a
specialized Men’s body (known as Men’s Commission or whatever name) through an
appropriate administrative order, in view of the petitioner’s legal and
constitutional mandate of equality in equal situations as a harassed person, to
have a specialized body to listen his gender-based grievances and to act upon
them just as Women Commission are doing for women related matters.
28.
That in such
circumstances, not knowing whom exactly to address the petition and finding the
office of the Cabinet Secretary as the most appropriate office and the matter
being extremely important to him the petitioner makes the following prayer.
PRAYER
(A)kindly direct the concerned authorities to
form an appropriate Authority/commission/body which shall cater specially to
the needs/grievances/requirements/problems of the male/men almost identical to
the manner in which the National Commission for Women look after the specific
problems/grievances/issues related with women in India, so that the petitioner
and other males can present their various grievances that they face as a man,
in such cases where they feel great necessity of having a specific independent
body to look after their issues and problems as a male but have to stop midway
due to absence of any such authority/body
Lt No-AT/MC/CS/GOI Yours,
Dated-12/06/2014
(Amitabh Thakur)
5/426, Viram Khand,
Gomti Nagar, Lucknow
# 94155-34526
Dated-12/06/2014
(Amitabh Thakur)
5/426, Viram Khand,
Gomti Nagar, Lucknow
# 94155-34526
To,
The Chief Secretary,
Government of Uttar Pradesh,
Lucknow
The Chief Secretary,
Government of Uttar Pradesh,
Lucknow
Subject- Formation
of a Uttar Pradesh Men’s Commission
Sir,
1. That by means of this petition, the
petitioner prays before you to kindly form an appropriate Uttar Pradesh State
Authority/commission/body which shall cater specially to the needs/grievances/requirements/problems
of the male/men almost identical to the manner in which the UP State Commission
for Women looks after the specific problems/grievances/issues related with
women in India, so that the petitioner and all other males, can present their
various grievances that they face as a man, in such cases where they feels
great necessity of having a specific independent body to look after their
issues and problems as a male but have to stop midway due to absence of any
such authority/body.
2. That the matter of fact is that the
petitioner is a male aged around 46 years. He is married to Dr Nutan Thakur, a
social activist in her own rights. He is by profession an IPS officer of UP
Cadre, presently posted as Joint Director (Civil Defence)/Inspector General,
Civil Defence, UP but he writes this letter in his individual capacity as a
male citizen of this nation
3. That the
petitioner, like many other males, faces many unique problems being a male. He
fully understands, realizes and appreciates the fact that in the society at
large and particularly in the Indian society, women in general occupy a more
difficult place vis-à-vis the male counterparts. Thus, it is universally
accepted that women face many specific and special problems as being a woman.
The nature of society, its long time evolution, its complexion, its ethos, its
values, culture and mores are such that generally it gives a natural advantage
to men compared to women. Thus, to quite some extent, men enjoy or pretend to
enjoy a status of superiority as compared to women. This can be seen in the
families, this can be seen in the houses, this can be seen in offices and in
public places. Thus, the position of men being generally better-off mentally,
socially, culturally, educationally and economically compared to women is often
seen.
4. That what has been
said above as regards the respective positions of men and women has many a
times been seen by the petitioner as well and he is also fully convinced that
generally the male seem to enjoy a definite superior position compared to women
as regards various aspects of life.
5. That many a times
this superior position also results in men misusing their authority vis-à-vis
women in various ways. This can result in women atrocities, women harassment,
sexual assault, social ostracization, economic impropriety and many other kinds
of women related grievances, hurt, humiliation, torture, crime, offence and so
on.
6. That as a
sensitive human being and as a sensitive male, the petitioner never for once
denies this obvious fact that in general the position of women in society often
comes as being inferior to males and hence he also believes that the women need
to have some special bodies that can look after specific needs, their special
demands, their complaints etc
7. That it is for
these reasons that the Indian Parliament came up with the National Commission
for Women Act 1990 under which the National Commission for Women was formed to review the Constitutional and Legal
safeguards for women ; recommend
remedial legislative measures ;
facilitate redressal of grievances and advise the Government on all
policy matters affecting women. In keeping with its mandate, the Commission
initiates various steps to improve the status of women and worked for their
economic empowerment during the year under report. It receives a large
number of complaints and acts suo-moto in several cases to provide speedy
justice. It takes up many women related issues. It organizes
workshops/consultations, constitutes expert committees on economic empowerment
of women, conducts workshops/seminars for gender awareness and takes up
publicity campaign against female foeticide, violence against women, etc. in
order to generate awareness in the society against these social evils.
8. That in the same
vein, various State legislature, including the UP legislature, came up with the
State Women Commission Acts with almost similar objectives and area of
activities, aimed specifically to the respective states
9. That the need and
importance of these Commissions is universally acknowledged by one and all, the
petitioner being no exception to the rule and he fully appreciates and endorses
their presence and their need.
10. That but at the
same time, there is another aspect that needs to be understood
11. That it is the
fact and the realization that with changing times, the society is changing.
What used to be the situation a hundred years ago is not the situation as it
exists today. Even during the last few years, there has been a massive change
in the situation and the circumstances in the society. The position of male and
female has although been changing. More and more women are becoming empowered.
There are many women now in the society who are educationally, socially,
economically, culturally, politically very strong. To name only a few, various
women film stars like Ms Gul Panag, Ms Hema Malini, Ms Vaijayanti Mala, Ms
Nagma, Ms Kirron Kher, many women politicians like Ms Mayawati, Ms Anuradha
Chaudhary, Ms Mamata Banerjee, Ms jayalalitha, Ms Vasundhara Raje, Ms Uma
Bharati, Ms Sushma Swaraj, many industrial barons like Ms Kiran Shaw Mazumdar,
Ms Akhila Sriniwasan, Ms Shahnaz Hussein, Ms Sharan Appa Rao, Ms Ekta Kapoor,
many bankers like Ms Chanda Kochar, Ms Shikha Sharma, Ms Naina Lal Kidwai and
many other women achievers of India and world level are there in every field of
life. Thus, we have hundreds of IAS officers, a few hundred IPS officers,
thousands of class I officers, lakhs of class II and class III officers, a very
large number of teachers, academicians and college professors from the women
folk. Every year one finds the women topping many of the competitive exams and
excelling over men in various board examinations.
12. That what the
above facts state is that though women still have, in general, a position
allegedly supportive and subordinate to men, but in reality a substantial
percent of women are today defying this rule. What is even more important is
the fact that this number is rapidly increasing by the day and the number of
empowered/enlightened and strengthened women is growing by leaps and bounds.
The natural result of this burgeoning power, prestige and affluence of the
women-folk is that more and more such situations are arising where the women is
not necessarily at the losing end.
13. That hence unlike
the previous times, when the only possibility perhaps was for the men to
harass, suppress, torture, ill-treat, condemn, castigate and chastise the
women, through their superior mental, physical, social, educational, cultural,
economic positions, today the time has come when there would be any number of
women who are superior placed than many men, in so many aspects.
14. That as a result
there are more and more examples of women misusing their authorities, power,
prestige and position in different ways to harass, suppress, torture,
ill-treat, condemn, castigate and chastise men. Today such instances are not
unknown but their number is growing by the day. Since what really matters in
any male-female equation is the respective power (in its totality) enjoyed by
the male and female, in so many examples the women use their superior power to
misuse it to harass the men.
15. That as is
well-known, there are many ways of harassing a person. While physical pain and
torture are measurable and quantifiable, mental pain and anguish caused due to
any kind of mental torture does not come to be easily measured or identified.
Hence, in all such cases where a woman is using her superior power and position
to misuse it against her husband or against any other male may not fall under
any of the crimes and offences defined in the various penal provisions and yet
keep on happening. Thus the anomaly that results out of this situation is that
while in the case of men harassing the women mentally, the women have the legal
recourse and can register certain complaints under the sections of IPC and the
Domestic Violence Act, among others, in all such cases where the women are
using the cruel tactics of mental harassment, the men are having no legal
recourse per se. What is worse is that they are not having any such body as the
National and State Women Commission where they may move to share their pain and
complaints and get appropriate relief in the form of immediate intervention at
the higher level. Thus, as can be seen
from the recent Badaun incidence or so many other cases of alleged women
harassment and torture, the National and State Women Commission are often ready
to intervene and interject in the matter, sometimes even suo motu even without
getting any complaint at any end, in all such cases of male harassment by
female, the poor man has no place to rush in. As explained earlier, if the
harassment being bestowed by the woman is not of the nature that can come in
the purview of some criminal offence, then the man has no place to go to and
has no official authority or body where he can present his case, where he can
beg for amelioration, where he can share his pain and anguish and where he can
pray for any kind of relief
16. That other than the situation where the women
in superior position are seen misusing their superior position to harass the
men, another set of women related harassment are also quite common now. It is
the misuse of law and the legal options by women. The misuse of the provisions of section 498A
IPC is often alleged by a large number of people, where a substantial number of
people are there to say that they were wrongly, unnecessarily and improperly
framed under section 498A IPC. Though not in large number, but in a few cases,
even the misuse of other provisions of women related crimes is also mentioned.
In short, today a situation has arrived where a reasonable number of cases are
seen where misuse of the women related crimes is being alleged.
17. That the
petitioner does not say that all these allegations of false cases is actually
true. There are definitely such people who start talking of misuse of law when
they find themselves on the wrong side of law and start attempting this Raga as
the gateway for getting away from the crime. But at the same time, it is no
more unheard that a reasonable percentage of cases are there where the false
implication of male by female through women related offences is actually being
done and where the male has no such body like the Women Commission where he can
move to get his voice heard and his grievances redressed.
18. That even the
petitioner’s wife, Dr Nutan Thakur, a well-known social activist, often says
that all the laws are such that they are in favour of women and the petitioner,
as a male, has no place to get any kind of relief, because not only the law but
even the perception and the administrative machinery in the shape of various
Women Commissions are very strongly tilted towards men. Though the petitioner
and his wife an extremely cordial relation but there are occasions when they
have a tiff and on such occasions he does feel the handicap of a men’s body
catering specially to the need of the men where they could go and register
their grievances and get the issue resolved. While there are already women
bodies and there are law courts but there are many occasions when the
petitioner has strongly needed a body having the sensitivity to understand the
issues and problems related specially with male.
19. That again, many a
times, the petitioner feels threatened to interact with women because an
inherent fear of the women having an advantageous position of pointing fingers
and making false allegations, remains in the petitioner’s mind where he
understands that the moment a woman would make such an allegations, all the
Women Commission will side with the woman even if the allegations be incorrect.
Here again he has always strongly felt the need of a specialized Men’s
commission.
20. That in another
instance, there is a senior officer in the petitioner’s department (name not
being taken because that is not the focus of the matter) who is generally
believed to have some kind of psychological antipathy against men in general.
The reason could be best known to her but the fact, as regularly seen and
realized by many in a unanimous manner, is that there seems to be some inherent
and latent anti-male sentiment in that officer. The petitioner is also a
sufferer of this, which might possibly be the result of this officer’s
anti-male feelings.
21. That what the above facts mean is that the petitioner, as a male, is a
person aggrieved in this case and he seems to strongly need some definite
administrative body for protecting his interests as a male, just the way the
Women Commissions are there to protect the interests of women. Thus, as a male,
the petitioner also needs State Commission for Men to review the
Constitutional and Legal safeguards for men ;
recommend remedial legislative measures ; facilitate redressal of grievances and advise
the Government on all policy matters affecting men and to look after the
interests of male in all possible ways.
22. That the petitioner, never for once denies
the fact that on the larger canvass the majority of oppression on the gender
level would be by the men against women but it does not take away or dilute the
fact that there are enough number of exceptions to this rule, including the
above mentioned incidences related with the petitioner, where the reverse might
also be true and where the male is being harassed solely for being a male and
the female is using her advantageous social, economic, cultural, educational,
marital position or even the fact of her being a female to harass, torture,
exploit, hurt or even ruin a male.
23. That hence in the prevailing circumstances,
Article 14 (Equality before law The State shall not deny to any person equality
before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of
India Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or
place of birth) seems to mandate that two persons harassed solely because of
their gender (one a female harassed by a male and another a male harassed by a
female) cannot be differentially treated.
24. That similarly Article 15(1) (The State shall
not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste,
sex, place of birth or any of them) again seems to mandate the same thing for
all persons (male and female) being harassed by persons of other gender using
their superior position and authority in any possible manner and also seem to
prima-facie restrict differential treatment between men and women as far as
taking care of the members of a particular gender as against the harassment,
torture, pain, ill-treatment, misuse of authority and position (social,
educational, economic, legal or whatsoever) is concerned
25. That again while Article 15(3) (Nothing in
this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for
women and children) holds completely true and also provides right to the State
to cater to the special needs of women and the petitioner also welcomes and
truly appreciates these measures being adopted by the State for the welfare of
women being harassed solely for being women or being placed in second category
in the society in any manner, so that the women get uplifted in equal measures
as men in all possible manners, here the issue being raised by the petitioner
is as regards those men who feel threatened, harassed, tortured by such set of women who are misusing their superior
authority. Hence, Article 15(3) stands true while at the same time Article 14
and 15 along with various other fundamental rights clearly seem to mandate that
the State also looks after the issues and problems related with all such male
who are being harassed and tortured by women solely on the basis of gender and
misuse of their authority.
26.
That it is also prayed that though the primary issue raised in
this Petition are related to larger public interest as well but at the same
time, the petitioner, as an individual, is also an affected party as explained
in details in above Para where he has explained why the lack of an appropriate
forum specially meant for men is also adversely affecting him.
27.
That the petitioner understands that the National and State Women
Commission are statutory bodies and the Central government cannot direct
formation of a new law. Hence all he prays before you is to create a
specialized Men’s body (known as UP state Men’s Commission or whatever name)
through an appropriate administrative order, in view of the petitioner’s legal
and constitutional mandate of equality in equal situations as a harassed
person, to have a specialized body to listen his gender-based grievances and to
act upon them just as Women Commission are doing for women related matters.
28.
That in such
circumstances, not knowing whom exactly to address the petition and finding the
office of the Chief Secretary as the most appropriate office and the matter
being extremely important to him the petitioner makes the following prayer.
PRAYER
(B)kindly direct the concerned authorities to
form an appropriate Authority/ commission/body for Uttar Pradesh which shall
cater specially to the needs/ grievances/ requirements/problems of the male/men
almost identical to the manner in which the UP State Commission for Women look
after the specific problems/ grievances/ issues related with women in UP, so
that the petitioner and other males can present their various grievances that
they face as a man, in such cases where they feel great necessity of having a
specific independent body to look after their issues and problems as a male but
have to stop midway due to absence of any such authority/body
Lt No-AT/MC/CS/UP Yours,
Dated-12/06/2014
(Amitabh Thakur)
5/426, Viram Khand,
Gomti Nagar, Lucknow
# 94155-34526
Dated-12/06/2014
(Amitabh Thakur)
5/426, Viram Khand,
Gomti Nagar, Lucknow
# 94155-34526
Good Work ... Thanks
ReplyDeleteAmitabhji, many thanks for raising an important issue.
ReplyDeleteYou have articulated the current issues faced by men as well as acknowledged the reality of Indian women. I am sure the Honorable JJ of SC will not only recognize the need for such forum but also should laud you for the valor shown by you in bringing the stark reality of our current society in front of them, of which they must be aware and are part of.
May God bless you and your wife, and give you strength to carry on noble work
Its great step towards humanity for men life and future. Its not exaggeration to say that mostly women are misusing the law as dowry act and others....
ReplyDeleteSalute you mr. amitabh
Commendable work
ReplyDeleteindia has no justice for men, so we need,mens comission, if indian high court needs ,i can give my example,i have got no justice even aproaching 2 high courts&3timesor more at supreme court with petitions,against 498a accusedship from 6 years 2008-9-10-11-12-13-14....gandhigrandson@gmail.com.....mukul saini ahmedabad facebook
ReplyDeleteI wish if you could file another writ to make divorce for warring spouses automatic say after 3/5/7 years. It now takes over a decade in getting a contested divorce.
ReplyDelete