Khushi Doshi
Published on: March 11, 2022 at 12:27 IST
The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday, two days after the World Celebrated International Women’s Day, that Government’s Transfer Policies must be sympathetic toward Women Employees, identifying that they share an inequitable workload as Primary Caregivers at Home.
In dealing with the conflict arising from the withdrawal of Inter-Commissionerate Transfers by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, a Bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Vikram Nath refused to interfere with the Policy Decision but Advised Governments to achieve substantive equality by taking into account the situations faced by women in Society and the Workplace.
Writing the Judgment, Justice Chandrachud said, “It becomes necessary for the Government to adopt Policies through which it produces Substantive Equality of opportunity as distinct from a formal equality for Women in the Workplace.”
“We leave it to the Respondents to Reconsider the Policy in order to accommodate Posting of Spouses, Disabled needs, and Compassionate Grounds. Such an exercise must be left to the executive, while ensuring that the constitutional values underlying Articles 21, 14 and 15 of the Constitution are adequately protected.”
According to Justice Chandrachud, measures to ensure Substantive Equality for Women take into account not only the disadvantages that operate to limit access to the workplace, but also those that continue to operate once a woman has gained access to the workplace.