HC quashes Meghalaya women panel's summons to Delhi Golf Club

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday quashed the summons issued by the Meghalaya State Commission for Women to the Delhi Golf Club secretary over an incident in which a Khasi tribal woman was asked to leave the club for wearing 'jenseim' attire.

Justice Vibhu Bakhru quashed the summons while questioning the commission's jurisdiction to issue the same.

On July 13, the High Court had stayed the commission order till further directions.

The club challenged the commission's order and its jurisdiction since the incident had happened outside Meghalaya.

The commission had acted upon the complaint by Kong Tailin Lyngdoh, a governess, who accused the club and its members of racial profiling of people, which tantamounts to discrimination against tribal people, a punishable offence.

 

On June 25, Lyngdoh said, she was wrongly subjected to unconstitutional restrictions in the club's dining area, thereby violating her fundamental rights.

The club staff asked Lyngdoh to leave the dining room as her traditional attire looked like a "maid's uniform".

"We were invited for lunch at the Delhi Golf Club. We were all seated and the lunch was almost to be served. Suddenly, a club official came up to me and asked me to leave the place," Lyngdoh had then told IANS.

"I enquired about the reason. They told me the dress (jenseim) I was wearing was a maid's uniform. They even said I look like a dustbin," claimed Lyngdoh, who hails from Meghalaya's Langtor village.

--IANS

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