Delhi HC: Court's opinion cannot be blinded by stereotypical perception of gender

Court says while setting aside an order discharging the husband of a police official of charges of cruelty under the Indian Penal Code

A court’s opinion cannot be blinded by stereotypical perception of any gender or profession and “gender-neutrality” must permeate through every judgment, Delhi High Court said while setting aside an order discharging the husband of a police official of charges of cruelty under the Indian Penal Code.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said the findings of the sessions court was not based on the principles of criminal jurisprudence and fair trial but on an “unjustified perception and bias” that a police officer can never be a victim of domestic violence.

“To harbour assumptions, especially as a judge, that a woman, by virtue of her profession as a police officer, cannot possibly be a victim in her own personal or matrimonial life, is a form of injustice of its own kind and one of the highest kinds of perversity,” the high court said in a recent order.