Gender equality and justice are subjects that evoke Contradictions in India because of the reality that exists - ASG Madhavi Divan at FICCI FLO interaction in Coimbatore

"Gender equality and justice are subjects that evoke Contradictions in India because on the one hand we have women occupying higher positions like we had a Prime Minister even before many other developed countries had one, we have had powerful chief ministers and on the other hand there are instances where women are still fighting for safety starting from birth", stated Madhavi Diran at the Interaction.

The Additional Solicitor General talked about cases in which the Supreme court has delivered landmark judgements which included cases on female infanticide, triple talaq and adultery. "It’s a sad and inescapable reality that women are not safe in the streets, in their work place, at their homes and in many cases even inside the mother's womb and the court had to interfere at every stage to ensure protection by ways of laws and judgements", stated Divan.

"Gender selection and bias is still a reality in many parts of India and there were instances when court had to deliver judgements to protect even the unborn child", said Divan mentioning a case where a doctor couple were running a hospital in an industrious manner in Maharashtra helping hundreds of people in aborting the female child.

Madhavi Divan shared her experience about the Triple Talaq case which was considered to be one of the landmark cases in the history of Independent India. "When it comes to matters of religion, though personal laws have a major say, it cannot be considered as an impregnable fortress, particularly when there is a violation of fundamental rights of a citizen. When the triple talaq case was first discussed, I thought it was a slam dunk case, thinking how can a court uphold a practice like this. But it turned out to be so difficult that we escaped by a whisker with 3:2 majority among the judges. But the case changed the lives of thousands of muslim women who did not have a say till then" noted Divan.

Talking about evolution of laws, Madhavi Divan stated "Now is a good time [compared to earlier years] to be a woman in our country where there are many laws protecting our rights and the laws have evolved over the years to ensure equality of women, thereby helping women in achieving great heights".

The interaction was attended by a small audience and was chaired by Poonam Bafna, Chairperson, FICCI FLO