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Indu Malhotra, the former Indian Supreme Court Justice, dissected her legal career and past rulings during a lunch discussion at the Harvard Law School on Monday.

The conversation — hosted jointly by HLS Advocates for Human Rights, the Women’s Law Association Clerkship Committee, and South Asian Law Students Association — drew roughly 50 HLS affiliates.

Malhotra, the first woman to be directly appointed to the Indian Supreme Court from the bar, served as a justice from 2018 to 2021. Her time on the court was characterized by several landmark decisions, including the decriminalization of adultery and the legalization of consensual same-sex sexual conduct.

During the conversation, Malhotra said that the court’s rulings went on to shape the Indian political landscape, as they pushed the legislature to pass laws fortifying the court’s decisions.

“These judgments have really taken everything forward, then, even on the issue of reproductive autonomy — particularly with respect to abortions,” she said.

The court’s 2021 ruling legalized abortion access through the twenty-fourth week of pregnancy, an increase of 4 weeks from prior regulations. This paved the way for future legislation in 2022, which entitled all women access to safe and legal abortion regardless of marital status.

“This act and the judgments of the Supreme Court have really improved the status of women, particularly in the cities, in the urban areas,” Malhotra added.

Malhotra’s involvement in the 2018 decriminalization of adultery was viewed as a testament to her efforts in taking an individualistic approach when interpreting the constitution.

India’s past legislation on adultery was widely criticised for its gender-bias. Previously it only criminalized the man involved in extra-marital sexual relations, not including the woman.

“It can only be the husband of the married woman,” Malhotra said. “It was a very asymmetrical kind of a definition, it was very lopsided.”

When the Indian Supreme Court ruled the criminalization of adultery as unconstitutional, Malhotra, in agreement, said adultery was a domestic offense not worthy of government intervention.

“Is it criminal in nature? Is it a public wrong? Should it be visited with criminal sanctions? So we believe that it was really actually a private offense between a husband and a wife,” Malhotra said.

During the lunch, Malhotra also discussed the ongoing controversy regarding same-sex relationships in India. Following her tenure, in 2023, the Indian Supreme Court declined to legalize same-sex marriage, retuning the decision to parliament.

“It’s just a variation of sexuality. It is something which is innate to a person. They are born like that. It’s not out of choice, and there's nothing criminal about it if they wish to have same-sex relationships as consenting adults in privacy,” she said.

“All five of us on the bench felt that it is certainly not criminal in nature, and we need to give them the respect,” Malhotra added.

Despite the setback on LGBTQ rights, Malhorta said trends of progress are evident and her past rulings provide an optimistic outlook for the future.

“From an overall perspective, there’s a great change in Indian society,” she said.