Refrain from the notion only a male child will assist parents in old age: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held that the courts must refrain from the notion that only a male child will assist parents in old age.

The Bench headed by Chief Justice of India, D Y Chandrachud and also comprising Justices Hima Kohli and P S Narasimha made the remarks while reviewing a death penalty awarded to a convict for the kidnap and murder of a 7-year old boy.

The Bench noted that the Supreme Court, in its appeal confirming the death penalty, had taken the killing of a male child to be an aggravating circumstance.

The court then went on to dismiss the appeal.

"Purposefully killing the sole male child, has grave repercussions for the parents of the deceased.Agony for parents for the loss of their only male child, who would have carried further the family lineage, and is expected to see them through their old age, is unfathomable. Extreme misery caused to the aggrieved party, certainly adds to the aggravating circumstances," the Bench held.

The current Bench which was hearing a review petition took exception to such remarks made in the appeal verdict. Though the act of murder of a child is a gruesome act, the gender of the child cannot be an aggravating circumstance, the Bench said.

"In such a circumstance, it does not and should not matter for a constitutional court whether the young child was a male child or a female child. The murder remains equally tragic. Courts should also not indulge in furthering the notion that only a male child furthers family lineage or is able to assist the parents in old age. Such remarks involuntarily further patriarchal value judgements that courts should avoid regardless of the context", the judgment said.

In the Aparna Bhat and others vs the State of Madhya Pradesh case, the Supreme Court had in 2021 issued several guidelines to courts. The court advised against the use of patriarchal and misogynistic comments in judgments.

The Supreme Court had set aside a bail condition imposed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court directing the accused in a sexual harassment case to get a rakhi tied by the victim. A Supreme Court Bench comprising Justices A M Khalwilkar and S Ravindra Bhat had directed that courts must desist from expressing any stereotype opinion, in words spoken during the proceedings on in the course of a judicial order.