Dont abuse women empowerment laws: Judge

CHENNAI: Justice Ranjana P Desai of the Supreme Court has cautioned women lawyers about the possible abuse of laws, which were made to give relief to women.“Stringent laws have been enacted for the benefit of disadvantaged women. Undoubtedly, they must be used to give justice to disadvantaged women. But, as respo-nsible lawyers, you must use these laws with care and circumspection and only in ge-nuine cases,” Justice Ranjana said while delivering the key-note address at the inauguration of a two-day national seminar of the All India Federation of Women Lawyers (AIFWL), hosted by the TN Federation of Women Lawyers, on Saturday.“Even 65 years after Independence and enactment of various Acts and Laws for the welfare of women and children, their status has not improved much, she noted. Most of the women lived in sub-human conditions and were treated like chattel. Women lawyers must reach out to them,” she said.Inaugurating the seminar, Supreme Court senior judge P Sathasivam said that the judiciary had played a major role in coming to the rescue of women. “The contribution of the judiciary for the improvement of the status of women, ensuring of their rights and equality, could be seen from the judgments issued then and there. The media too, had played a vital role in highlighting the problems of women,” he added.“Women are as competent as men,” claimed Justice D Murugesan. The judge also released a souvenir on the occasion. Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan said, “Women should be given more opportunities and gender bias should be eliminated.”