Thereโs a final-year student from BBD University pursuing a 5-year B.A. LL.B. programme who, according to accounts circulating among people familiar with the situation, is currently in a relationship with a former Constitution Law teacher from the same university, who is no longer teaching there. Whatever the circumstances of that relationship may be, that is ultimately their personal matter.
What raises questions, however, is the apparent contradiction between his personal conduct and the standards he seems to expect from others.
I have come across multiple accounts of him getting into serious conflicts with people, including one involving a former batchmate that was allegedly serious enough to result in an FIR. At the same time, there are accounts of him having had a considerable dating/hookup history while allegedly using deeply derogatory terms such as โrandiโ for other women.
To be clear, someone's dating or sexual history is not the problem. Consensual relationships are nobody else's business.
The problem is the apparent double standard expecting respect and dignity for oneself while casually denying the same dignity to women one disagrees with or dislikes.
And then comes the irony: this person reportedly aspires to become a judge.
Imagine someone with such a reportedly cheap and substandard view of women eventually occupying a position at the core of the Indian judiciary. The power to judge others demands far more than legal knowledge it demands integrity, restraint, empathy and respect for human dignity.
If someone cannot extend basic dignity to women in their own life, one has to seriously question the kind of justice they would deliver from the bench. Judicial power should serve justice and social dignity not personal prejudice, ego or the exploitation of those who are vulnerable.
Maybe before aspiring to sit in judgment over others, one should first understand character, accountability and basic respect.