PIL seeking abolishing of the "male" pronoun from the Constitution of India
Harsh Gupta v. Union of India
W P ( c ) 473/2023
Before Hon’ble Mr. Chief Justice of India & Hon’ble Mr. Justice P S Narsimha J
Dismissed on 04.07.2023
it is a mockery of justice that resources of legal system are consumed by petitions in the name of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) when the Supreme Court is facing escalating pendency of cases where the personal liberty of the person is involved and have legitimate expectation of early justice. Now is being brazenly misused to seek publicity or to settle business and political rivalry.
The spirit behind public interest petition was that a citizen may approach the court to ventilate grievance of a person or class of persons who are unable to pursue their rights.
A PIL was filed by a Law student Harsh Gupta from Agra under Article 32 of the Constitution of India seeking to abolish “male” pronouns in the Constitution of India. The matter was heard by a Division Bench of Hon’ble Mr. Chief Justice DY Chandrachud J and Hon’ble Mr. Justice PS Narasimha J. Under the garb of right to equality the petitioner intended to get the word ‘male’ abolished in the Constitution. The Constitution uses the word Chairman now Chairperson but that does not mean a woman can’t be appointed.
The PIL was dismissed with the observation of the Hon’ble Apex Court, ‘ we are not inclined to entertain such petition under Article 32 of the Constitution pf India.’
Seema Bhatnagar
