Somya Panwar, Pune
The Supreme Court on Tuesday closed a petition filed under section 64 of CrPC, as BNSS repeals the section and replaces it with a new provision. The Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud acknowledged that the validity of Criminal code of procedure Code (CrPC) can’t supersede the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
The code of Criminal Procedure 1973 (CrCP) section 64 states that only adult male member of the family can accept the summon on behalf of another family member in his or her absence. Whereas, section 66 of Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023, has allowed any adult member of the family to accept summon, ruling out the gender- specific language.
The former provision under CrPC was not only discriminatory against women by treating them as an incapable member of the family but also unreasonable as it was not valid for the situations where the family was headed by women, making them the sole authority to accept the summon.
The petition was filed in November 2022 addressing the violation of women’s right to equality under Article 14 and Article 15, right to know under Article 19(1)(a), right to dignity under article 21 of the Indian Constitution.
The petitioner’s representative Jyotika Kalra has expressed happiness over Supreme Court’s Verdict. The Government has been praised for removing the backward and discriminatory law against women under CrPC and for inculcating the new reforms in BNSS 2022.
The Significance of this small victory is ray of hope for all the women who have to go through the gender discrimination. It’s also a step towards accepting a progressive approach in legal matters.