Assistant solicitor general sees red over judges’ language

NEW DELHI - Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Indira Jaisingh Friday took strong exception to the use of word “keep” and other such expressions for women in a judgment on a marital dispute case involving a man and his second wife.

“I have serious objections to some of the words and expressions used in the judgment,” Jaisingh told the apex court bench of Justice Markandey Katju and Justice T.S. Thakur - the bench that had delivered the judgment.

Wondering how Supreme Court judges could use words like “keep”, she said the judges should not use words which are not gender sensitive.

Jaisingh told the court that she had no quarrel with the judgment but had serious objections to the words used in it. She said that she would move a petition seeking the expunging of these words.

“As a woman I feel hurt. This is highly derogatory. The literal translation of word ‘keep’ in Hindi is ‘rakhel’. Can you talk of men being called ‘Kept’? It works both ways,” she said, adding she did not feel like appearing before this bench.

Justice Thakur tried to assuage her feelings saying that the words she was objecting to were not written in the sense that was being attributed to them.

He then asked if they were to use the word “concubine”. At this, Jaisingh said: “That is even worse”.