Too Much Unnecessary Activism Mars The Delhi Equality Bill 2016
- JWB Post
- July 25, 2016
Do you feel that too much activism could sometimes be harmful? Apparently, that’s what is evident from the Delhi Equality Bill 2016, which is drawing criticism from many quarters for going overboard in creating an anti-discrimination law.
Whereas it is indeed the need of the hour to have such laws but it has to be seen that such a law doesn’t intrude upon our personal liberties. One of the main drawbacks of the bill is that since it is drawn by many anti-discrimination laws from different countries, many of the stipulations are not applicable for India.
Take this instance. No landlord can refuse a potential tenant in giving the house if the tenant is in a live-in relationship. But the law doesn’t take into consideration the liberty of those people (often elderly couples) who don’t want unmarried tenants and want to rent their house only to married couples.
Some of the clauses in the bill have been taken from South Africa are particularly harsh because of the fact that unlike the apartheid in South Africa, India doesn’t have such a complex history of discrimination.
In some cases, the bill is also harsh on the respondents. If an allegation is leveled under the bill by the applicant, it is prima facie established that a case of discrimination has happened. But compared to the applicant, the burden on the respondent of disproving the discrimination is extremely high.
The bill also fails to differentiate between the purely commercial and quasi- commercial nature of the relation between the employee and the employer which gives rise to many ambiguities.
Legal experts believe that whereas the intention behind the legislation is noble, it is poorly formulated, resulting in the giving little space into privacy or personal choice. It would be fair to say that the bill has crossed the thin line between activism and obstructionism.
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