POCSO Act was not enacted to punish minors in romantic or consensual relationship: Bombay High Court
The Court granted bail to a 23-year-old man booked for kidnapping and raping a minor girl, after noting from the statement of the victim’s mother that the relationship was consensual. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was not enacted to punish minors in a romantic or consensual relationship, the Bombay High Court observed while granting bail to a 23-year-old man who was booked on charges of raping a minor [Imran Iqbal Shaikh v. State of Maharashtra]. Justice Anuja Prabhudessai noted from the statement of the victim’s mother that the relationship between her daughter and the applicant-accused was a consensual one. “The Applicant was also a young boy of 22 years of age at the time of the incident. The statement of the first informant, prima facie indicates that the relationship was consensual. It needs to be noted that the POCSO Act has been enacted to protect children from offences of sexual…
No person can be expected to live with constant abuse: Delhi High Court upholds divorce on ground of cruelty by wife
Every person is entitled to live with dignity and honour, and repeated use of derogatory words is clearly humiliating and would certainly amount to cruelty, the Court said. The Delhi High Court recently observed that constant use of derogatory and humiliating words by a wife against her husband and his family amounts to cruelty as a ground for divorce [Deepti Bhardwaj v. Rajeev Bhardwaj]. While upholding the dissolution of marriage and consequent divorce of a couple, a Bench of Justices Sanjeev Sachdeva and Vikas Mahajan noted, “Repeated use of words of the nature as extracted herein hereinabove are clearly humiliating and would certainly amount to cruelty. No person can be expected to live with constant abuse being hurled upon him.” The Court was hearing a challenge by the appellant-wife against a family court order allowing the petition filed by the respondent-husband under Section 13(1) (i-a) of the Hindu Marriage Act seeking dissolution of marriage…
Widowed/ divorced daughters of freedom fighters entitled to pension under Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme: Delhi High Court
The Court said that the term ‘unmarried’ not only includes a person who is not married but also divorced and widowed. The Delhi High Court on Friday held that a widowed or divorced daughter of a freedom fighter is entitled to pension under the Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme of 1980 [Union of India v Kolli Uday Kumari]. A division bench of Justices Rajiv Shakdher and Talwant Singh dismissed an appeal by the Central government challenging an order of the single-judge granting benefit of pension to one Indira Kumari. The division bench rejected the Centre’s arguments that the term ‘unmarried daughter’ excludes widowed and divorced daughters and that allowing benefits to them would result in opening the floodgates and will burden the exchequer. The Court said that the expression ‘unmarried’ not only includes a person who is not married but also a woman who is single i.e., who was married but divorced and even a…
Wife can claim return of ornaments from husband after divorce only if she can prove husband was entrusted with it: Kerala High Court
The Court has reiterated the position in the case of Binod v. Sophy that the wife while making a claim for gold ornaments will have to prove the entrustment of gold ornaments. The Kerala High Court recently reiterated that a wife can seek the return of gold ornaments worn during the wedding from her husband after divorce only if it is proved that he had been entrusted with them [Binitha v Hareendran].
Debriefed: What is irretrievable breakdown of marriage? Can couples move Supreme Court for divorce?
We explain the Constitution Bench verdict on the Supreme Court’s powers to grant divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage. In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court on Monday held that it can dissolve marriages of consenting couples on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage and waive the six-month period they have to wait for under law before getting a divorce. Although the Constitution Bench laid down factors to consider while determining irretrievable breakdown of a marriage, it clarified that parties cannot directly move the apex court seeking dissolution of marriage. In this article, we “break down” the five-judge Bench verdict on the Supreme Court’s powers to grant divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage. What did the Court rule on its power to grant divorce? The Court held that it can use its discretionary powers under Article 142(1) of the Constitution to grant divorce to an estranged…
Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage
Supreme Court can grant divorce using Article 142 powers on irretrievable breakdown of marriage: Constitution Bench The issues involved were whether the Supreme Court could exercise its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to dissolve a marriage and the broad parameters of such powers. The Supreme Court on Monday held that it can exercise its plenary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to grant a decree of divorce to consenting parties, in cases of irretrievable breakdown of marriage [Shilpa Sailesh v. Varun Sreenivasan]. A Constitution Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, Abhay S Oka, Vikram Nath and JK Maheshwari held that the six month period prescribed under the Hindu Marriage Act can be dispensed with. “Article 142 must be considered in light of the fundamental rights. It should contravene a non-derogable function of the Constitution. Court under the power is empowered to complete justice,” the Bench said. The verdict came in a batch of petitions…
Irretrievably broken down marriage can be dissolved on ground of cruelty: Supreme Court
To keep the façade of a broken marriage alive would amount to doing injustice to both the parties, the Court said. In a significant verdict, the Supreme Court on Wednesday held that an irretrievably broken down marriage spells cruelty in itself, and can be a ground for dissolution of marriage under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 [Shri Rakesh Raman v. Smt Kavita]. A Division Bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and JB Pardiwala was of the view that even though irretrievable breakdown of marriage may not be a ground for dissolution of marriage under the Act, the same can be read as a ground of ‘cruelty’. “A marriage which has broken down irretrievably, in our opinion spells cruelty to both the parties, as in such a relationship each party is treating the other with cruelty. It is therefore a ground for dissolution of marriage under Section 13 (1) (ia) of the Act,” the judgment stated. The Court was hearing an appeal against a…
THE EMERGING TREND OF LIVE-IN RELATIONSHIPS AND THE APPLICABLE LAWS
one are the days when live-in relationships were tabooed and considered to be a stigma. The changing patterns of family structure indicates an acceptance towards the concept of live-in relationships. Two consulting adults can stay together under a roof and are not barred by law to do the same. A live-in relationship can be defined as a relationship wherein a couple resides together in a house for a long duration without marriage. There is no single law which is applicable on live- in relationships in India. Live in relationships are not even defined as per the law. No particular legislation decides the issues emerging out of such relationships such as the rights of the couples in the relationship, right of alimony, domestic violence or the legitimacy of the children born out of such relationships. However, the court has decided these issues through various judgments on a case-to-case basis. INDEX Judicial…
WOMAN’S RIGHTS AFTER A DIVORCE
Oppression and suppression of women are still a reality in marriages. Even though India is paving its way towards being a gender-neutral country but some ounces of patriarchy still exist. This can be substantiated from the fact stated in the National Family Health Survey-5 which is that Spousal Violence has seen an increasing trend in five states, namely Sikkim, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, and Karnataka where Karnataka is a state that has shown the largest increase in cases of spousal violence, from 20.6% in NFHS-4 to 44.4% in NFHS-5. It is advisable to break free from the clutches of a bad marriage rather than suffering each day. Divorce can be quite taxing for both the spouses not only emotionally but also economically. Divorce can happen because of any reason be it compatibility issues or cruelty or violence in the marriage. Women may face many difficulties and challenges while making their way…
Introduction to the Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women (at Workplace) Act, 2013.
Introduction. The world has gone through drastic changes in the past one century, long gone are the days when men used to be the sole bread winner of a family. There has been a large influx of women in the professional sphere of life; however, this large influx of women into the mainstream workforce has also put them at greater risk of sexual harassment at their workplace. Sexual harassment at workplace is a form of gender discrimination which violates a woman’s fundamental rights to equality and right to life & personal liberty as guaranteed under Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution of India. At the same time, every form of sexual harassment is a detriment to the dignity of a woman. The very first legislation which has been enacted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in India to tackle the issue of sexual harassment of women…
