Leila has also been extremely vocal in supporting her son when he came out to her as gay. Her approach to the situation was not to judge her son, but only to be worried for his safety because of the rigorous section 377 that criminalises intercourse between two consenting same-sex adults. “I remember reading a book called The Well of Loneliness about two lesbians and I remember it moved me. Love is such a beautiful thing and they could not share it with anybody. I think that came back to me. I read it at 17 and I thought how lonely a person must be if you can’t share his love with other people,” she said. “People have told me they were not able to accept this about their children. And almost gave up on their child. Reading (the book) has made them realise to care for the child more. The child is not in the normal routine life. He is the lonely child. He needs more love, more affection.” She chose to take a positive stance, to care for minorities, and speak for the voiceless because she believed they were humans from whom their dignity was being snatched away.
Justice Leila Seth has undoubtedly been the feminist heroine who paved the way and encouraged many other women and girls all over India to enter the field of law. She was unfettered by the plentiful gender-discrimination she faced, and she is the perfect example of how to deal with demotivating situations. Being a female lawyer and a judge especially in India is still ridden with difficulties, but Leila Seth’s remarkable presence in the mainstream helped society know that women in law are here to stay.
Leila has also been extremely vocal in supporting her son when he came out to her as gay.
She is not only a revered icon by the virtue of being able to resiliently fight the discrimination she had faced, but she was also a staunch supporter of the LGBTQIA+ community and spoke out against the evils of marital rape and dowry. “You talk to poor people or you go to the villages, I have many people telling me that their men come home drunk and abuse them in a way. They tell me that once you get married, you have given up all your bodily integrity, and, all your women’s right, in one way. If you don’t feel like having sex one day, or you feel unwell, your husband can have sex with you or force you to have sex. It’s like saying, once you’re married, you have given consent and that consent you cannot retract.”
In her TED Talk she chose to be open and honest about why dowry is still prevalent and how even the most educated and progressive people end up giving dowry for their daughters, simply because they don’t want their daughters to lead a miserable life in their matrimonial home. She also chose to encourage women to speak out when they know what the law is, especially when it comes to property rights since she recognised that many women often give up their rights so that they won’t have differences with their brothers. But she is hopeful and she feels that the scenario is changing as women empowerment is entering the mainstream media and discussions.
But she has observed that from a time when she was the only other female lawyer working at the Patna High Court, the situation has changed. More and more women are taking up positions and jobs that would traditionally go to a man. She had not imagined that provisions such as under the Right to Information Act, or the Panchayati Raj rules that allow women to be heads, would come, and so remains hopeful that change will come, even is it’s not as fast as we would like it to be.
Also Read: The Women Of Our Courts: Where Are They And How Many Are There?
Significantly, it was Leila Seth’s letter published in The Times Of India in which she expressed her dissent and sadness regarding the Suresh Kumar Koushal judgment by the Supreme Court that reinstated Section 377. “What makes life meaningful is love. The right that makes us human is the right to love. To criminalize the expression of that right is profoundly cruel and inhumane. To acquiesce in such criminalization or, worse, to recriminalize it, is to display the very opposite of compassion.” Leila Seth was straightforward and unfazed in challenging the Supreme Court’s logic in passing such a judgment even though they had enough scientific evidence and jurisprudence not to.
Leila Seth passed away on May 5, 2017, at the age of 86. Her optimistic spirit lives on in all of us. She lived a full, happy and meaningful life, and her outlook towards challenges posed by societal evils is one that we can all try and inculcate in ourselves. Her achievements are a result of her perseverance and dedication. Her life is a reminder for us to never give up, never stop loving, and never stop questioning the norm.
Featured Image Credit: DNA India
Tanya is a law student who hopes to make the world a better place for people of all genders, sexes, and sexualities. She also has an undying love for theatre, music, and biryani.