RS clears changes to Hindu marriage law

Women Set To Get A Better Deal

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

New Delhi: In a major step toward making marriage laws more women-friendly, the Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the bill to amend the Hindu Marriage Act (1955) and the Special Marriage Act (1954) that provides for “irretrievable breakdown of marriage” as grounds for divorce and also grants women the right to a share in the property of their husbands. 
    The Marriage laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010, will also have to be passed by Lok Sabha before it can become law. Most Rajya Sabha MPs cut across party lines to welcome the “progressive” bill, though some held that it should have been made more “genderneutral”, while a few others expressed reservations about its probable misuse against husbands. 
    Replying to the debate, law minister Kapil Sibal said there was an urgent need to “protect women rights more” because the Indian society was still quite patriarchal. 
    “So let’s be clear. This historic piece of legislation is a message that MPs are on the side of women in our patriarchal society. Even across the world, women constitute 50% (of the population) but own only 2% of the assets,” he said. 
    The minister assured MPs that the “irretrievable breakdown on marriage” clause was “gender-neutral” since even men could move the court for it. 
    Both parties have to live apart for at least three years before filing such a divorce petition. “Don’t worry, we are taking care of both men and women,” he said. 
    Dwelling on the amendments, the minister said courts would decide the “extent” of the wife’s share in her husband’s self-acquired property, both moveable and immoveable, in case of a divorce. While the wife will have no share in inherited property, its value will be taken into account by court while fixing the amount of compensation or alimony to her. “The judge will decide as per the facts and circumstances of each case,” he said. 
    Earlier, participating in the debate, BJP’s Najma Heptulla criticized the UPA government for not bringing in “one law for all women”. Holding that the country’s “100 million Muslim women” were being ignored by the government, she asked, “Have they thought of any reforms for Muslim women?” 

A KNOT IN TIME 
New bill amends Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and Special Marriage Act, 1954 Introduces option of divorce on grounds of  ‘irretrievable breakdown of marriage’, 

Gives women right to share in husband’s moveable, immoveable property, 

Gives women right to sufficient compensation from husband’s inherited, inheritable property in case of divorce. 

Courts to decide compensation quantum 

Gives adopted children rights equal to natural born children 
Courts can exercise discretion in granting divorce after 3 years if one partner does not move a second joint application for divorce with mutual consent

Source:::: The Times of India, 27-08-2013, p.09, http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW

AN EASIER UNION?

Indian marriage laws not as knotty as US’s

Have A Big Advantage Being Gender-Neutral

Dhananjay Mahapatra | TNN 

New Delhi: US law makers are proposing an amendment to the definition of marriage, which mandates the relationship to be between a man and woman, to bring it in line with judicial pronouncements legalizing same-sex marriages. 
    Will Indian Parliament need to amend the definition of marriage if our Supreme Court upholds a Delhi high court verdict decriminalizing same-sex relationships and if that ultimately leads to same-sex marriages? 
    Though marriage laws — the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA) and the Special Marriage Act (SMA) — were framed nearly 60 years ago, the framers had shown great vision by keeping it gender neutral and saving the ruling party of the headache to garner enough support in Parliament to pass an amendment to the definition of marriage. 
    Section 5 of HMA, which was enacted in 1955, says “a marriage may be solemnized between any two Hindus”. The SMA was enacted in 1954 to allow marriage between “any two persons” irrespective of the religion they professed. 
    The two phrases “any two Hindus” in HMA and “any two persons” in SMA, both of which do not refer to man and woman as in the US Constitution, would help the law getting applied to marriage between the same sex, if it materializes in the event of the Supreme Court agreeing with the view taken by the Delhi HC. 
    What Indian marriage laws were more worried about was the age and health of the “persons” getting married and to prevent any incestuous relationship. The only differentiation it prescribes is that the groom has to be 21 years and bride 18 years.
    Both marriage laws have fastened identical conditions on parties to a marriage: 

• No person has a spouse living at the time of the marriage (they have to be either single or divorced); 

•At the time of the marriage, neither party (a) is incapable of giving a valid consent to it in consequence of unsoundness of mind; or (b) though capable of giving a valid consent, has been suffering from mental disorder of such a kind or to such an extent as to be unfit for marriage and the procreation of children; or (c) has been subject to recurrent attacks of insanity; 

• The parties are not within the degrees of prohibited relationship (very near relatives) unless the custom or usage governing each of them permits a marriage between the two; 

• The parties are not sapindas of each other, unless the custom or usage governing each of them permits of a marriage between the two.

Source::: The Times of India, 28-03-2013, p.17.

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