POLITICAL SCIENCE PROJECT

RIGHT TO PRIVACY AND GENDER EQUALITY

NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY ODISHA, CUTTACK

PROJECT TOPIC: RIGHT TO PRIVACY AND GENDER EQUALITY

SUBJECT: POLITICAL SCIENCE

SUBMITTED BY ROLL NO
AKSHITA SINGH 004
ADITI MOHAN 008
PRASOON TIWARI 077

Submitted to: Dr. Suvrashree Panda

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Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .............................................................................................................. 3
BRIEF INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 4
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND.................................................................................................... 5
POLITICAL ANALYSIS OF RIGHT TO PRIVACY AND GENDER EQUALITY ................... 6
CASE STUDY: ANALYZING RIGHT TO PRIVACY AND GENDER EQUALITY .............. 10
Vishakha v. State of Rajasthan .................................................................................................. 10
Judgement.................................................................................................................................. 11
Justice K.S.Puttaswamy(Retd) v. Union Of India ..................................................................... 12
Judgment ................................................................................................................................... 13
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 13

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

At the onset, the authors would like to express their earnest gratefulness and thank their mentor
Dr. Suvrashree Panda for instilling confidence in them and entrusting the task to carry out a project
on this topic. The authors are indeed privileged having being groomed in a prestigious institution
like National Law University Odisha, Cuttack. They would also like to express their gratitude to
their friends for their support and help. Their gratitude also goes out to the staff and administration
of National Law University Odisha, Cuttack for the library infrastructure and IT lab that was a
source of great help for the completion of this project.

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BRIEF INTRODUCTION

Privacy, an important fundamental human right, is central to the protection of human dignity. It
can said to be the basis of any democratic society. It also acts as a backbone to other fundamental
rights such as freedom of expression, information and association. Activities that restrict the right
to privacy, such as surveillance and censorship, can only be justified when “they are prescribed
by law, necessary to achieve a legitimate aim, and proportionate to the aim pursued.”1 Undue
interference with individual’s privacy can both directly and indirectly limit the free development
and exchange of ideas.” Interference with Right to Privacy can be said to hinder both exchange of
ideas and freedom of having an opinion.

Right to privacy is a facet of right to life and personal liberty enshrined under article 21 of the
Indian constitution and right to privacy has been recognized as fundamental right in the recent
judicial pronouncement in Justice K.S Putthaswamy v. Union of India. Various countries
including USA, UK, and India have recognized the need for Right to Privacy thereby highlighting
its influence in today’s times.

Equality, on the other hand, in terms of opportunity, status, caste and political standing has been
associated with humanity for years. Forming the crux of Human Rights, the demand for equality
can be traced back to early nineteenth century. The General Assembly acknowledged its
importance in its Declaration by reaffirming the fact that “All humans are born free and equal in
dignity and rights”.2 Its presence in the Art. 14 of the Constitution of India further reassures its
significance in our country.

The tree of Equality bears several branches, one of which being Gender Equality. It is essentially
about creating equal opportunities for men and women in terms of rights to and control over

1
Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 29; General Comment No. 27, Adopted by The Human Rights
Committee Under Article 40, Paragraph 4, Of The International Covenant On Civil and Political Rights,
CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.9, November 2, 1999; See also Martin Scheinin, “Report of the Special Rapporteur on the
promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism,” 2009, A/
HRC/17/34.
2
Gender Equality Issues, UNITED NATIONS (Jan. 3, 2019, 1:34 PM), http://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-
depth/gender-equality.

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resources. It cannot be merely restricted to a fundamental right but can also be said to lay down a
strong foundation towards a more holistic and sustainable economy. Over the past few years, there
has been a rise in the overall awareness of such gender equality rights, although till date, women
continue to suffer on several fronts. Essentially a gender-equal society would be an affluent and
dynamic society in which human rights of both men and women would be respected and the one
which can respond to socioeconomic changes.3

While Privacy acquired a legal sanction in the near past, equality has been enshrined in the
Constitution of India since its augment. Both right to privacy and gender equality can be said to
form the crux of human value and rights. For any society or a country to flourish, it’s important
that one recognizes and values both these aspects. They lay a strong foundation towards a better
country or a world at large. Both the topics shall be analyzed through legal and political lens along
with a note on their evolution through course of time.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Right to privacy has travelled a prolonged journey in order to attain the status of fundamental right
in Indian constitution. There are abundance of cases dealing with acceptance and denial of this
right henceforth all the aforesaid points will be elaborated further in order to have a categorical
understanding about the evolution of "right to privacy" within Indian domain. Right to privacy was
derived from "protection of life and personal liberty" enshrined under article 21 of the Indian
constitution and the discussion on case laws is essential for better understanding of this utmost
significant right in the present scenario. In the case of Kharak Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh4,
where the appellant was being harassed by police under regulation 236(b) of the UP regulation,
which permits for domiciliary, visits at night.

The Supreme Court held that the regulation 236 is unconstitutional and violative of article 21. The
court concluded by saying that article 21 of the constitution to include "Right to privacy" as a part
of right to "protection of life and personal liberty". Justice Subba Rao equated personal liberty with
privacy and he observed that concept of liberty in article 21 was comprehensive enough to include

3
MARZIYEH BAKHSHIZADEH, CHANGING GENDER NORMS IN ISLAM BETWEEN REASON AND REVELATION
20-1 (2018).
4
Kharak Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh AIR 1963 SC 1295

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privacy and that a person's house, where he lives with his family is his castle and that nothing is
more deleterious to a man's physical happiness and health than a calculated interference with his
right to privacy.

The nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court has unanimously delivered its judgment in Justice
K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India holding that privacy is a constitutionally protected
right which not only emerges from the guarantee of life and personal liberty in Article 21 of the
constitution, but also arises in varying contexts from the other facets of freedom and dignity
recognized and guaranteed by the fundamental rights contained in Part III of the Indian
constitution. The analysis of the same will be dealt in the later section of the project.

Speaking of gender equality, one cannot eschew the idea of “Feminism”. Picked by Alexander
Dumas, feminism was first used in 1871 in a French medical text to describe a cessation in
development of organs and characteristics in male patients who are perceived as suffering from
“feminization” of their bodies.5 As the international feminist movement gained momentum during
the 1970s, the General Assembly declared 1975 as the International Women’s Year and organized
the first World Conference on Women in Mexico City.

Gender equality in political power and economic resources in postindustrial democracies has
grown tremendously in the past 50 years.6 With the help of this article, the author aims to entangle
the various nuances of Gender Equality that exist in the form of its causes, repercussions and
challenges it faces.

POLITICAL ANALYSIS OF RIGHT TO PRIVACY AND GENDER EQUALITY

The past few years have seen the emergence of right to privacy to the forefront of several
controversies across the world. The most recent one took place in the Indian subcontinent when a
nine-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India, Justice JS Khehar, unanimously upheld the
status of right to privacy as a fundamental right protected under the constitution. Charles Assisi,
calls the verdict a balanced one and says that the country seems to be headed in the right direction.7

5
26, REKHA PANDE, THE HISTORY OF FEMINISM AND DOING GENDER IN INDIA (Estudos Feministas) 1-17 (3d. ed 2018).
6
JACK VOWELS & HILDE COFFE, INEQUALITY AND THE 2014 NEW ZEALAND GENERAL ELECTION, (ANU Pres) (2017).
7
Charles Assisi, N.S.Ramnath, The Aadhaar Effect: Why the World's Largest Identity Project Matters (2018).

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While this landmark judgement acted as a relief for millions of people who no longer have to get their
mobiles and bank accounts linked to their Aadhaar cards, according to some activists it had adverse effect
on that fraction of the population which is dependent on subsidies to the biometric id. According to Vijoo
Krishnan, a leader of the Communist party of India and the All India Kisan Sabha, the poor have been
worst hit by this judgement. The Right to Food (RTF) campaign revealed data revealing the death of 14
people over a period of 10 months in Jharkhand due to starvation as a result of denial to ration because
of the absence of Aadhaar cards.8

Congress National spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi appreciated the verdict calling the whole
Aadhaar plan of the BJP government a failed attempt to monetise biometric data.9. Moreover, Congress
President Mr. Rahul Gandhi went on to call this verdict one that empowered Congress’s vision and
criticized BJP for misusing Aadhaar as a mode of surveillance and oppression violative of people’s
privacy. Basically, Congress being the opposition, saw this as an opportunity to thrash BJP government.
While BJP leaders such as Mr. Arun Jaitley welcomed the Supreme Court verdict and were happy about
the fact that the legislation and concept of a unique identification number has been accepted after being
reviewed judicially. The judgement was also hailed by the Trinamool Congress and the party said that
they along with their Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, had fought for the right of privacy.

Hence, the establishment of the right to privacy as a fundamental right was in toto politically, not just
accepted but also appreciated by India. Despite being the largest democracy India was anyway quite late
in addressing this much important privacy issue. Globally, right to privacy has experienced quite a
journey. History has seen many political leaders infringe or worse refuse to acknowledge the concept of
privacy. Adolf Hitler in 1933, for example, demanded the President of Germany to sign the Reichstag
fire decree which was a major step in establishing Nazi rule as a one-party state in Germany. Among
other things, the decree implied suspension of the right to privacy of communication by mail or
telephone.10

8
PTI, ‘Supreme Court verdict on Aadhaar will have different impact for different folks: What people say’
(FinancialExpress, 26 September 2018) < https://www.financialexpress.com/aadhar-card/supreme-court-verdict-on-
aadhaar-will-have-different-impact-for-different-folks-what-people-say/1327983/> accessed on 3 February 2019
9
HND, ‘Reactions to Aadhaar verdict | Original Aadhaar petitioner Justice Puttaswamy welcomes parts of
judgement’ (The Hindu, 27 September 2018) < https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/reactions-to-aadhaar-
verdict/article25046282.ece > accessed on 1 February 2019
10
Ferdinand Schlingensiepen, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, martyr, thinker, man of resistance (London, T&T Clarke, 2010)

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Surprisingly, the constitution of America, the second largest democracy in the world, does not
mention right to privacy explicitly. But its story throughout the years has been quite interesting.
An act called the Privacy Act was passed in 1974 to protect the citizens of America from the
arbitrary usage of their records by any federal agency. Then in the 2008 election campaign, Barack
Obama broadly promised to strengthen protection of privacy and to hold both business and
government accountable for violations.11 The government under Obama had also made
administration plans to guarantee better privacy to individuals travelling or moving to the U.S. but
with the advent of the Trump government, these plans were canned.12 Thus, immigrants in America
can no more avail the same privacy as the U.S. citizens. However, Trump administration is now
working towards developing consumer data privacy policies and the commerce department is
having meetings with some giant companies like Comcast Corp, Alphabet Inc and Facebook Inc.13
Despite all this, U.S. laws on data privacy and protection are considered to be strong. In contrast
to the U.S., North Korean President Kim Jong-un believes in the idea of absolute state control by
actively spying on the citizens with the help of a huge network for surveillance.14

When it comes to the privacy issue, India should take notes from the U.S., EU and China. Besides
the privacy issue another significant issue that has been recently addressed in India is the issue of
gender equality. While the Indian Prime Minister appreciated the triple talaq judgement calling it
a step towards women empowerment, he said that the Sabarimala issue is not one of gender
equality.15

Even other political parties like Congress, BSP and CPI (M) hailed the triple talaq judgement.
However, among many other protests, a silent one against the triple talaq bill was carried out in
Mumbai. This protest was led by the spokesperson of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board

11
Jon Greenberg, ‘FCC limits broadband providers use of personal data’ (politifact, 18 November 2016)
<https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/390/safeguard-the-right-to-privacy/>
accessed on 2 February 2019
12
Thomas Brewster, ‘Trump Is Killing Obama's Plans For World Privacy Rights’ (Forbes, 26 January 2017)
<https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2017/01/26/trump-kills-obama-privacy-plans-anti-
immigrant/#2f2b4114eddc> accessed on 29 January 2019
13
David Shepardson, ‘Trump administration working on consumer data privacy policy’ (Reuters, 28 July 2018)
<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-internet-privacy/trump-administration-working-on-consumer-data-privacy-
policy-idUSKBN1KH2MK> accessed on 27 January 2019
14
‘North Korea’s human rights: What's not being talked about’ <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-44234505>
accessed on 22 January 2019
15
ANI, ‘PM Modi to ANI: Triple talaq matter of gender equality, Sabarimala is about tradition’ (IndiaToday, 1
January 2019) <https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/pm-modi-ani-interview-triple-talaq-sabarimala-issue-smita-
prakash-1421336-2019-01-01> accessed on 2 February 2019

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and was attended by members of various other parties like Congress MLA Arif Zahra, Samajwadi
party leader Abu Azmi and AIMIM MLA Waris Pathan.16 Abu Azmi went on to call this bill an
interference with the personal laws of the Muslim and said that this kind of interference is
unacceptable.17

Another scenario of conflict between religion and gender equality was observed when the
Sabarimala judgement was given by the apex court. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor welcomed the
ruling by calling it a reiteration of equal justice and said that entrance to any place based on gender
cannot be denied in the name of religion. Union Minister for women and child development,
Maneka Gandhi said that this verdict will make Hinduism more inclusive than before. Kerala
government also supported the judgment. But BJP quite ironically had mixed reactions to this
second gender equality issue. P.P. Mukundan, former South India RSS organizing secretary and
BJP leader, went on to say that “No normal women devotee would defy traditions”.18 S.J.R.
Kumar, President of the Kerala unit of the Viswa Hindu Parishad called the verdict an unfortunate
one.

Thus, it can be seen that Indian politicians exhibit a hypocritical approach when they come across
such clashes between religion and gender equality. India is still better off in terms of gender
equality than many other neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia etc. which have
been included in the 10 worst countries for gender equality in the world.19 In Saudi Arabia, women
are treated as legal minors and are deprived of many basic rights and thus the revocation of the
age-old ban on women drivers was a historic move. This progressive step was taken by the Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman who strongly supports the idea of gender equality.20

16
ENS, ‘Mumbai: Silent protest by women against triple talaq bill’ (IndianExpress, 1 April 2018)
<https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/mumbai-silent-protest-by-women-against-triple-talaq-bill-
5118973/> accessed on 3 February 2019
17
Political Bureau, ‘Do not interfere in Muslim laws: Abu Azmi’ (TheFreePress, 30 April 2017)
<https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/do-not-interfere-in-muslim-laws%E2%80%88abu-azmi/1060027>
accessed on 28 January 2019
18
‘Reactions to Sabarimala verdict: disappointing, says Sabarimala head priest’
<https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/reactions-to-sabarimala-temple-verdict/article25066571.ece>
accessed on 29 January 2019
19
Gavin Haines, ‘Mapped: The best (and worst) countries for gender equality (telegraph, 4 November 2017)
<https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/maps-and-graphics/mapped-the-best-and-worst-countries-for-gender-equality/>
accessed on 3 February 2019
20
‘Gender equality in Saudi Arabia will usher in global reformation’ <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-
editorials/gender-equality-in-saudi-arabia-will-usher-in-global-reformation/> accessed on 27 January 2019

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Certain degree of reform was also observed in Iran when President Hassan Rouhani, a promoter
of women’s rights, allowed women to watch live matches of the FIFA World Cup for the first time
in the history of Iran. This reform had to face a lot of resistance. Another Iranian leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei said, “the question is whether a woman has the right to ruin her role as a mother and
a wife because of all the good, interesting and sweet [opportunities] that could be there for her
outside the family environment.”21 While other countries are still making progress, UN reports
show disturbing levels of gender inequality in the fields of education, healthcare and other such
necessaries.22

CASE STUDY: ANALYZING RIGHT TO PRIVACY AND GENDER EQUALITY

Vishakha v. State of Rajasthan

It can be clearly observed that the first world countries have almost completely overcome gender
inequality issues while women from the third world countries are still struggling for basic rights.
Nordic countries have been ranked the best in the world when it comes to gender equality.23 Now
the question to ponder upon for developing countries like India is whether these gender equality
reforms acted as a mere product of development or a catalyst for these developed countries.

“This Writ Petition has been filed for the enforcement of the fundamental rights of working women
under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India in view of the prevailing climate in which
the violation of these rights is not uncommon. With the increasing awareness and emphasis
on gender justice, there is increase in the effort to guard such violations; and the resentment
towards incidents of sexual harassment is also increasing. The present petition has been brought
as a class action by certain social activists and NGOs with the aim of focussing attention towards
this societal aberration, and assisting in finding suitable methods for realisation of the true concept

21
Dina Yazdani, ‘Women’s Rights in Iran Teeter between Reform and Backlash’ (fairobserver, 27 july 2018)
<https://www.fairobserver.com/region/middle_east_north_africa/womens-rights-iran-hassan-rouhani-maedeh-
hojabri-dance-news-81712/> accessed on 23 January 2019
22
Niha dagia and Zoha Ismail, ‘UN Women report shows worrying degree of gender inequality in Pakistan’
(Tribune, 14 February) <https://tribune.com.pk/story/1634815/1-un-women-report-shows-worrying-degree-gender-
inequality-pakistan/> accessed on 29 January 2019
23
Ibid. 13

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of 'gender equality'; and to prevent sexual harassment of working women in all work places
through judicial process, to fill the vacuum in existing legislation.”

”Each such incident results in violation of the fundamental rights of 'Gender Equality' and the
'Right of Life and Liberty'. It is clear violation of the rights under Articles 14, 15 and 21 of
Constitution. One of the logical consequences of such an incident is also the violation of the
victim's fundamental right under Article 19(1) (g) to practice any profession or to carry out any
occupation, trade or business'. Such violations, therefore, attract the remedy under Article 32 for
the enforcement of these fundamental rights of women. This class action under Article 32 of the
Constitution is for this reason. ”

”A writ of mandamus in such a siltation, if it is to be effective, needs to be accompanied by

directions for prevention; as the violation of fundamental rights of this kind is a recurring
phenomenon. The fundamental right to carry on any occupation, trade or profession depends on
the availability of a "safe" working environment. Right to life means life with dignity. The primary
responsibility for ensuring such safety and dignity through suitable legislation, and the creation of
a mechanism for its enforcement, is of the legislature and the executive. When, however, instances
of sexual harassment resulting in violation of fundamental rights of women workers under Articles
14, 19 and 21 are brought before us for redress under Article 32, an effective redressal requires
that some guidelines should be laid down for the protection of these rights to fill the legislative
vacuum. ”

Judgement

The judgment of Vishakha’s case was conveyed by Chief Justice J.S Verma as a representative of
Justice Sujata Manihar and Justice B.N Kripal on account of writ petition which was file by
Vishakha the victim of this case. The court observed that the fundamental rights under Article
14[2], 19[3] (1) (g) and 21[4] of Constitution of India that, every profession, trade or occupation
should provide safe working environment to the employees. It hampered the right to life and the
right to live a dignified life. The basic requirement was that there should be the availability of safe
environment.

The Supreme Court held that, women have fundamental right towards the freedom of sexual

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harassment at workplace. It also put forward various important guidelines for the employees to
follow them and avoid sexual harassment of women at workplace. The court also suggested to
have proper techniques for the implementation of cases where there is sexual harassment at
workplace. The main aim/objective of the Supreme Court was to ensure gender equality among
people and also to ensure that there should be no discrimination towards women at there
workplace.
After this case, the Supreme Court made the term Sexual harassment well defined, accordingly
any physical touch or conduct, showing of pornography, any unpleasant taunt or misbehaviour, or
any sexual desire towards women, sexual favour will come under the ambit of sexual harassment.

Justice K.S.Puttaswamy(Retd) v. Union Of India

”The case arose out of a challenge to a constitutional challenge to the Aadhar project, which aims
to build a database of personal identity and biometric information covering every Indian. More
than a billion Indians have so far been registered in the Aadhaar programme, which sees citizens
issued with a 12-digit number that aligns to specific biometric data such as eye scans and
fingerprints. Registration is now become mandatory for filing tax returns, opening bank accounts,
securing loans, buying and selling property or even making purchases of 50,000 rupees (£610) and
above. ”

”In 2012, Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retired) filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the
constitutionality of Aadhaar on the grounds that it violates the right to privacy.The Government
argued that there was no constitutional right of privacy in view of a unanimous decision of eight
judges in M.P. Sharma v. Satish Chandra24 and a decision by a majority of four judges in Kharak
Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh25.”

”The case came before a three judge Bench of the Court which, on 11 August 2015, ordered that
the matter should be referred to a larger Bench of the Court. On 18 July 2017, a five judge
Constitution Bench ordered the matter to be heard by a nine judge Bench. While it awaited

24
M.P. Sharma v. Satish Chandra 1954 AIR 300 1954 SCR 1077.
25
Kharak Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh AIR 1963 SC 129.

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clarification on the right to privacy, the bench hearing the constitutional challenge to Aadhaar
passed an interim order restricting compulsory linking of Aadhaar for benefits delivery. ”

Judgment
”The nine judges of the Court gave six separate opinions, producing what must be a contender for
the longest reasoned judgment ever produced by a court. These judgments defy short summary
and only a few key themes can be picked out.. ”

”The problem for the Petitioners was that the Indian constitution does not contain an explicit
privacy right. Nevertheless, the Indian Constitution is a living instrument. The Courts have sought
to give effect to the “values” which the Constitution it contains by interpreting express
fundamental rights protections as containing a wide range of other rights. The crucial provision
for this purpose is Article 21 which provides that”

“No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure
established by law”

”Chandrachud J points out that this provision has been interpreted as containing, inter alia, the
rights to a speedy trial, legal aid, shelter, a healthy environment, freedom from torture, reputation
and to earn a livelihood. Privacy is an incident of fundamental freedom or liberty.”

”In an important section of the joint judgment headed “Essential Nature of Privacy”, Chandrachud
J analyses the concept of privacy as being founded on autonomy and as an essential aspect of
dignity. Dignity cannot exist without privacy. Both reside within the inalienable values of life,
liberty and freedom which the Constitution has recognised. Privacy is the ultimate expression of
the sanctity of the individual. It is a constitutional value which straddles across the spectrum of
fundamental rights and protects for the individual a zone of choice and self-determination” ”

CONCLUSION

It can be concluded that both Right to Privacy and Gender Equality have been a crucial part of
humanity for a while now. While both the arenas have witnessed massive improvement over the
years in terms of general awareness and gain, some segments still need to be addressed. A major

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challenge which both the aspects face is that of lack of knowledge on the same. Due to low literacy
rates, a major chunk of India’s population is still not aware of the relevance of these two subjects.

Further, Problems such as partner violence, sexual assault and harassment are rooted in gender
inequality. Overcoming such issues should be an important step in dealing with the problem.
Though the laws prevail, they lack on implementation fronts. Stringent laws with regular
awareness campaigns can be arranged to tackle the same. After all for equality to be ensured, safety
of women needs to be given top priority. Espousing the ideas of female leadership can be another
move towards the movement of social reformation. There are multiple examples of such women
who have proved to be a successful leader from Rani Laxmi Bai in the old days to Chandan
Kocchar currently. On similar lines, Right to privacy can be said to face issues of overwhelming
interference by the Government and beauracrats. Controversies associated with Aadhar continue
to hamper the progress of the same.

However, seeing the progress which the country has witnessed in these two crucial arenas, it can
be said, that’s it more than a mere hope to see our nation improving by leaps and bounds in near
future.

Bibliography

Cases

1. M.P. Sharma v. Satish Chandra 1954 AIR 300 SCR 1077

2. Kharak Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh AIR 1963 SC 129
3. Vishakha v. State of Rajasthan AIR 1997 SC 3011
4. Justice K.S.Puttaswamy (Retd) v. Union Of India 2017 SCC 1

Conventions & Statutes

1. UN Declaration on Human Rights

2. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

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Books and Journals

1. Jack Vowels & Hilde Coffe, Inequality and the 2014 New Zealand General Election.
2. Rekha Pande, The History of doing Gender in India, Rekha Pande.
3. N.S Ramath, The Aadhaar Effect: Why the World's Largest Identity Project Matters.

Websites

1. www.fairobserver.com/region/middle_east_north_africa/womens-rights-iran-hassan-
rouhani-maedeh-hojabri-dance-news-81712.
2. https://tribune.com.pk/story/1634815/1-un-women-report-shows-worrying-degree-
gender-inequality.
3. https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/do-not-interfere-in-muslim
laws%E2%80%88abu-azmi/1060027.
4. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/reactions-to-sabarimala-temple-
verdict/article25066571.
5. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/maps-and-graphics/mapped-the-best-and-worst-
countries-for-gender-equality.
6. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/pm-modi-ani-interview-triple-talaq-sabarimala-
issue-smita-prakash-1421336-2019-01-01.
7. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-44234505.

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