UPSC Mains 2023 GS2 Q12: model answer

Gender justice means not only equal treatment but the removal of structures that keep women and gender minorities unequal. The Constitution supports both.

Constitutional provisions

• Preamble: equality of status and opportunity.
• Art. 14: equality before law; Art. 15(1) bars sex discrimination; Art. 15(3) permits special provisions for women.
• Art. 16: equal opportunity in public jobs.
• Art. 21: dignity, privacy and bodily autonomy; Art. 23: bans trafficking.
• DPSPs: equal pay (39(d)), maternity relief (42).
• Art. 51A(e): duty to renounce practices derogatory to women.
• Arts. 243D and 243T: one-third seats in local bodies; 106th Amendment (2023): one-third in Lok Sabha and Assemblies.

Case laws

• Air India v. Nargesh Meerza (1981): struck down rules ending air hostesses' jobs on first pregnancy.
• Vishaka (1997): guidelines on sexual harassment at work, later the POSH Act, 2013.
• Shayara Bano (2017): instant triple talaq unconstitutional.
• Joseph Shine (2018): adultery law struck down as treating wives as property.
• Indian Young Lawyers Association (2018): women's entry to Sabarimala.
• Secretary, Ministry of Defence v. Babita Puniya (2020): permanent commission for women officers.
• Vineeta Sharma (2020): daughters as coparceners by birth.
• NALSA (2014): rights of transgender persons.
• X v. Principal Secretary (2022): equal abortion rights for unmarried women.

Gaps: marital rape exception, low female labour participation, and violence.

The Constitution has moved courts from formal to substantive equality; society and policy must follow.