For 1st time, wife’s property share defined

Himanshi Dhawan TNN 

New Delhi: The Marriage (Amendment) Bill that seeks to amend the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and the Special Marriage Act, 1954, seeks to introduce irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a condition for divorce through mutual consent. 

    This is the first time that a woman’s share in marital property has been made part of the legislation. So far, the wife’s right to property was recognized, but alimony and compensation were decided by the courts. 
    “The amendment will give a woman right to 50% of the residential property owned by her husband even if it is acquired before the marriage. This will ensure that the woman is not left without a roof over her head in case divorce is given through mutual consent. However, division of other property, money, assets will be decided by the courts,’’ sources said. 

    However, some of the activists remained unhappy with the bill, saying it still remained biased against women. Former Rajya Sabha member Brinda Karat said this legislation would “compromise the future rights of women in a marriage’’. Karat, along with MPs and others, had met law minister Salman Khurshid on Tuesday to press home the point that restricting a woman’s share only to residential property would be unfair. They argued that the woman’s right to property was established under law and she should have an equal right to all property acquired during marriage. 

    “There has been some change but it is not enough. This is a very poor substitute and should not be passed in the name of a pro-woman legislation,’’ Karat said. 

Anti-dowry law changes to be fast-tracked 

New Delhi: The government appears keen to fast-track the anti-dowry amendments, and has lined up an important meeting with women MPs on May 21. The women and child development ministry has been mulling over amendments which will ensure both moveable and immoveable property be considered dowry, and differential penalties for those giving and taking bribes. The proposed amendments range from changing the definition of dowry to imposition of harsher penalty for dowry deaths. The ministry hopes to garner political support for the bill. 


Source::: The tTimes of India, 18-05-2012, p.09 : http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW