The year 2022 saw its fair share of courtroom dramas. From recognising marital rape to the release of the accused in the Bilkis Bano case to the split verdict in the hijab row to the ruling out of the two-finger test on sexual assault survivors, epochal judgments were handed down this year.
Here's a look at some key events, landmark verdicts and controversial judgments passed by courts in India in 2022.
1. Supreme Court livestream
In a first, the Supreme Court started livestreaming the proceedings of all constitutional bench hearings from September 27 in a bid to enhance transparency and accessibility in its functioning. This happened exactly four years after a path-breaking verdict in this regard was delivered in 2018.
2. Bilkis Bano
Bilkis Bano, who was gangraped during the 2002 Gujarat riots, was in for another fight in court after all the 11 convicts in the case were granted remission by the Gujarat government. They walked out of the jail on August 15, 2022.
Bano was gangraped and seven members of her family were killed during the violence that ensued after the Godhra train-burning incident in 2002. She was 21 years old at the time, and five months pregnant.
The 11 accused were sentenced to life imprisonment by a special CBI court in Mumbai on January 21, 2008. Their conviction was later upheld by the Bombay High Court. The Gujarat government had released the convicts after the Supreme Court directed it to consider their plea for relief under the 1992 remission policy.
In a setback, the Supreme Court recently dismissed Bano's plea, seeking a review of its earlier order by which it had asked the Gujarat government to consider the petitions for the remission of sentences of 11 convicts in the gangrape case.
3. Marital rape
In a historic verdict on September 29, the Supreme Court recognised marital rape. The court said that under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, rape shall also include marital rape.
As per the MTP Act Rules, only survivors of rape, minors, women whose marital status changed during pregnancy, mentally-ill women, or women with foetal malformation are allowed to terminate pregnancy up to 24 weeks.
"Rape means sexual intercourse without consent and intimate partner violence is a reality. In this case also, woman may get forcefully pregnant... Any pregnancy alleged to be caused by force is rape," the bench was quoted by News 18 as saying.
He, however, added that "… the meaning of rape must be understood to be marital rape solely for the purposes of MTP Act. This is important to save the woman from a forceful pregnancy."
4. Unmarried women and abortion
The MTP Act did not include unmarried women whose pregnancy arises out of a consensual relationship. But, on July 21, the Supreme Court allowed a pregnant unmarried woman to abort her 24-week foetus. Later, the court noted that both married and unmarried women are entitled to safe and legal abortions.
The Supreme Court later said in its verdict: "Excluding unmarried woman from terminating pregnancy beyond 20 weeks is violative of Article 14." It also observed that both married and unmarried women are entitled to safe and legal abortions.
5. EWS quota case
In a 3:2 ratio judgment, the Supreme Court upheld the 10 percent reservation quota for persons from economically weaker sections (EWS) in admissions and government jobs, ruling that it does not violate the basic structure and the equality code. Justice Dinesh had said "reservation on economic criteria does not violate basic structure." The ceiling limit of 50 percent is not inflexible, he said.
6. Two-finger test banned
The Supreme Court ruled that any person conducting a two-finger test on a rape or sexual assault survivor is guilty of misconduct. The court said the test is based on an incorrect assumption that a sexually-active woman cannot be raped. The bench comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Hima Kohli banned the regressive method as “patriarchal” and “sexist.”
The two-finger test is an unscientific procedure that involves inserting two fingers into a woman’s vagina to determine the laxity of vaginal muscles, thereby determining ‘virginity.’ In some cases, it is done by inspecting the size of a vaginal opening and for tears in the hymen, News 18 reported. As per the World Health Organization (WHO), neither of the methods in the two-finger test can prove if a woman has had vaginal intercourse or not.
7. FCRA amendment
The Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of amendments made to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act in 2020. Clearing the amendments to the 2010 Act meant to strictly regulate the foreign funding of the NGOs, it observed that receiving foreign donations cannot be an absolute or even a vested right. It added that the "strict regime" had become essential because of the past experience of "abuse and misutilisation" of foreign contributions.
The Supreme Court also said it is open to a sovereign democratic nation to completely prohibit acceptance of foreign donations on the ground that it undermines the constitutional morality of the nation. The court said foreign contributions can have a material impact on the socio-economic structure and polity of the country, and that permitting its inflow, which is a donation, is a matter of policy of the state-backed by law.
8. Karnataka hijab row
As the government and Muslim parties remained divided over the issues, so was the Supreme Court in its verdict. The court had given a split verdict on a batch of petitions challenging the Karnataka High Court judgment refusing to lift the ban on hijab in educational institutions of the state.
Justice Gupta upheld the ban and ruled that hijab is not an essential religious practice. On the other hand, Justice Dhulia struck down the ban on hijab, saying the education of the girl child is most important, Bar and Bench reported. Following the split judgment, the CJI was then expected to constitute a larger bench to decide on the issue.
9. Feeding dogs? Adopt them
The Supreme Court had stayed certain observations by the Bombay High Court, including those that directed citizens feeding stray dogs to "formally adopt" them. The Supreme Court also said no coercive steps should be taken against those feeding stray dogs.
The court order comes after the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on October 21 ordered a ban on citizens feeding stray dogs. The court had ordered the municipal authorities to penalise citizens violating the order with a fine of Rs 200.
10. Rajiv Gandhi assassination case
The Supreme Court directed the premature release of six convicts, including Nalini Sriharan and R.P. Ravichandran who were serving life sentences in the assassination case of former PM Rajiv Gandhi. A bench of justices B.R. Gavai and B.V. Nagarathna said the judgment of the court in the case of A.G. Perarivalan, one of the convicts in the case, is equally applicable in their matter.
