వారసత్వ ఆస్తిలోనూ వాటా!
August 27, 2013
న్యూఢిల్లీ, ఆగస్టు 26: విడాకుల సమయంలో మహిళలకు అన్యాయం జరగకుండా... పరిహారం నిర్ణయంలో భర్త వారసత్వ ఆస్తినీ పరిగణనలోకి తీసుకునేలా రూపొందించిన వివాహ చట్టాల (సవరణ) బిల్లును రాజ్యసభ సోమవారం ఆమోదించింది. పార్టీలకు అతీతంగా రాజ్యసభ సభ్యులందరూ దీన్ని స్వాగతించారు. ఈ బిల్లు ప్రకారం విడాకులు పొందిన మహిళలకు.. భర్త వారసత్వ ఆస్తి నుంచి సైతం పరిహారాన్ని నిర్ణయించే హక్కు కోర్టులకు దఖలుపడుతుంది.
వైవాహిక బంధాన్ని కొనసాగించలేని స్థితిలో.. మూడేళ్లపాటు విడిగా ఉన్న అనంతరం భార్యాభర్తలు ఈ క్లాజు కింద విడాకులకు దరఖాస్తు చేసుకోవచ్చు. అయితే.. పిల్లల పెంపకానికి అవసరమైన ఆర్థిక సామర్థ్యం భార్యాభర్తలకు లేనిపక్షంలో కోర్టు ఈ క్లాజు కింద విడాకులు ఇవ్వడాన్ని ఈ బిల్లు నిరోధిస్తుంది. అలాంటి సందర్భాల్లో విడాకులను వ్యతిరేకించే హక్కు భార్యకు ఉంటుంది. భార్యాభర్తల్లో ఒకరు సంయుక్తంగా విడాకుల దరఖాస్తు చేయడానికి నిరాకరించిన పక్షంలో ఎక్స్‌పార్టీ నిర్ణయం తీసుకునే హక్కు కోర్టుకు ఉంటుంది.
కాగా, ఈ పితృస్వామ్య సమాజంలో మహిళల హక్కులను కాపాడాల్సి ఉందని, ఈ సందర్భంలో పార్లమెంటు సభ్యులు మహిళల పక్షానే ఉన్నారన్న సందేశాన్ని ఈ చరిత్రాత్మక బిల్లు చాటిచెబుతోందని కేంద్ర న్యాయ శాఖ మంత్రి కపిల్ సిబల్ అన్నారు. విడాకులు తీసుకోవడానికి లింగభేదం ఉండకూడదుగానీ.. ఆస్తి మీద హక్కు విషయంలో మాత్రం లింగభేదం ఉండాలని, భార్య తన భర్త వారసత్వ ఆస్తిలో వాటా కోరే వెసులుబాటు ఉండాలని ఆయన వ్యాఖ్యానించారు. దీనిపై రాజ్యసభలో చర్చ జరుగుతున్నప్పుడు.. ఈ బిల్లు లింగబేధం లేకుండా ఉండాలని, హిందూ వివాహాలకు మాత్రమే పరిమితం కాకూడదని పలువురు ఎంపీలు అభిప్రాయపడ్డారు.
సిబల్ మాత్రం ఇది హిందూ వివాహ చట్టం, ప్రత్యేక వివాహ చట్టాలకు సంబంధించిందేనన్నారు. విడాకుల అనంతరం.. భర్త ఆస్తులలో వాటాతోపాటు, అతడికి వారసత్వంగా వచ్చిన, రాబోయే ఆస్తి విలువను పరిగణనలోకి తీసుకుని భార్యాబిడ్డలకు ఎంత పరిహారం ఇవ్వాలో కోర్టులే నిర్ణయిస్తాయని ఆయన వివరించారు. ఈ బిల్లు ప్రకారం హిందూ వివాహ చట్టం, 1955, ప్రత్యేక వివాహ చట్టం 1954ల్లో సవరణ చేయాల్సి ఉంది. కాగా.. చర్చలో పాల్గొన్న బీజేపీ ఎంపీ నజ్మాహెప్తుల్లా మహిళలందరికీ వర్తించేలా చట్టాన్ని రూపొందించకపోవడంపై యూపీఏ సర్కారును విమర్శించారు. దేశంలోని 10 కోట్ల మంది ముస్లిం మహిళల కోసం ఏమీ చేయకపోవడం పట్ల అసంతృప్తి వ్యక్తం చేశారు. ముస్లిం మహిళల అభివృద్ధి కోసం ఎలాంటి చట్టం చేసినా బీజేపీ మద్దతు ఉంటుందని హామీ ఇచ్చారు.
The Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill
The Rajya Sabha on 26 August 2013 passed The Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010 by voice vote. It seeks to amend the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 and the Special Marriages Act, 1954 which provides for irretrievable breakdown on marriage as a ground for divorce as well as grants women the right to a share in the property of their husbands.
Under the new bill, a provision has been made to restrict the grant of decree of divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage if the court is satisfied that adequate provision for the maintenance of children born out of the marriage has not been made consistently with the financial capacities of the parents.
The bill allows wife to oppose grant of divorce on the basis that a dissolution of marriage will lead to grave financial hardships. The court can also restrict grant of divorce if it is not satisfied about adequate provision for maintenance of children born of marriage.
The bill also has provisions that the court shall not hold marriage to have broken down irretrievably unless it is satisfied that the parties to the marriage have lived apart for a continuous period of not less than three years before filing petition for divorce.
The Bill would provide safeguards to parties to marriage who file petition for grant of divorce by consent from the harassment in court if any of the party does not come to the court or willfully avoids the court to keep the divorce proceedings inconclusive.
At present, various grounds for dissolution of marriage by a decree of divorce are laid down in section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The grounds inter alia include adultery, cruelty, desertion, conversion to another religion, unsoundness of mind, virulent and incurable form of leprosy, venereal disease in a communicable form, renouncement of the world and not heard as being alive for a period of seven years or more. Section 27 of the Special Marriage Act, 1954 also lays down similar grounds.
However, section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act and Section 28 of the Special Marriage Act provide for divorce by mutual consent as a ground for presenting a petition for dissolution of marriage. The said sections inter alia provide that a petition for dissolution of marriage by mutual consent, if not withdrawn before six months after its presentation or not later than 18 months, then, the court may, on being satisfied after making inquiry, grant decree of divorce by mutual consent. However, it has been observed that the parties who have filed petition for mutual consent suffer in case one of the parties abstains himself or herself from court proceedings and keeps the divorce proceedings inconclusive. This has been causing considerable hardship to the party in dire need of divorce.
The Law Commission in its 71st report submitted in 1978 had recommended amendments to Hindu Marriage Act to make of irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a new ground for divorce. A report of Law Commission in 2009 had also made similar recommendation. On 23 March 2012, the Union Cabinet of India approved the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010, by which irretrievable breakdown of marriage was included as a ground for dissolving a marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and the Special Marriage Act, 1954.
Who: Rajya Sabha
What: passed the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010 by voice vote
When: 26 August 2013
- See more at: http://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/rajya-sabha-passed-the-marriage-laws-amendment-bill2010-1377596383-1#sthash.By3blshW.dpufWomen to get share in husband's property in case of divorce
Under the new bill, a provision has been made to restrict the grant of decree of divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage if the court is satisfied that adequate provision for the maintenance of children born out of the marriage has not been made consistently with the financial capacities of the parents.
The bill allows wife to oppose grant of divorce on the basis that a dissolution of marriage will lead to grave financial hardships. The court can also restrict grant of divorce if it is not satisfied about adequate provision for maintenance of children born of marriage.
The bill also has provisions that the court shall not hold marriage to have broken down irretrievably unless it is satisfied that the parties to the marriage have lived apart for a continuous period of not less than three years before filing petition for divorce.
The Bill would provide safeguards to parties to marriage who file petition for grant of divorce by consent from the harassment in court if any of the party does not come to the court or willfully avoids the court to keep the divorce proceedings inconclusive.
At present, various grounds for dissolution of marriage by a decree of divorce are laid down in section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The grounds inter alia include adultery, cruelty, desertion, conversion to another religion, unsoundness of mind, virulent and incurable form of leprosy, venereal disease in a communicable form, renouncement of the world and not heard as being alive for a period of seven years or more. Section 27 of the Special Marriage Act, 1954 also lays down similar grounds.
However, section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act and Section 28 of the Special Marriage Act provide for divorce by mutual consent as a ground for presenting a petition for dissolution of marriage. The said sections inter alia provide that a petition for dissolution of marriage by mutual consent, if not withdrawn before six months after its presentation or not later than 18 months, then, the court may, on being satisfied after making inquiry, grant decree of divorce by mutual consent. However, it has been observed that the parties who have filed petition for mutual consent suffer in case one of the parties abstains himself or herself from court proceedings and keeps the divorce proceedings inconclusive. This has been causing considerable hardship to the party in dire need of divorce.
The Law Commission in its 71st report submitted in 1978 had recommended amendments to Hindu Marriage Act to make of irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a new ground for divorce. A report of Law Commission in 2009 had also made similar recommendation. On 23 March 2012, the Union Cabinet of India approved the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010, by which irretrievable breakdown of marriage was included as a ground for dissolving a marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and the Special Marriage Act, 1954.
Who: Rajya Sabha
What: passed the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010 by voice vote
When: 26 August 2013
- See more at: http://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/rajya-sabha-passed-the-marriage-laws-amendment-bill2010-1377596383-1#sthash.By3blshW.dpufWomen to get share in husband's property in case of divorce
New Delhi, Aug 26, 2013, (IANS)
The Rajya Sabha Monday passed a bill to amend marriage laws to provide for irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a ground for divorce, subject to certain safeguards to the wife and affected children.
The Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010 was passed by voice vote. It seeks to amend the Hindu Marriage Act 1955 and the Special Marriages Act, 1954.
Replying to the brief debate, Law Minister Kapil Sibal said there was need to protect women's rights as the society was still patriarchal.
"So let's be clear. Legislations are a message that MPs are on the side of women in a patriarchal society. With this intent we bring this bill," he said.
Speaking on the amendments, Sibal said the share of the wife in the husband's self-acquired property will be decided by a court. He said the wife also has a share in the movable property of her husband.
The wife does not have a share in inherited property but its value will be taken into account while fixing the amount of alimony to her, he added.
Terming it "a historic piece of legislation", he said either husband or wife can cite irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a ground of divorce.
He said that those not under the ambit of the Hindu Marriage Act can get covered by the legislation by getting their marriage registered under the Special Marriages Act.
Sibal said that under the present conditions for granting divorce, a party sometimes does not turn up for filing motion jointly and renders the other party hapless. He said it was proposed to do away with condition of moving such a motion.
"We in India believe in sanctity of marriage," he said and noted that countries where institution of marriage had seen a breakdown had seen disintegration of society.
Sibal said it certain stipulations made it difficult to seek divorce but times have changed.
"We are in the 21st century," he said.
Participating in the debate, members from some parties like Trinamool Congress and Nationalist Congress Party suggested that the bill should be made gender-neutral and the word woman should be replaced by spouse.
Bharatiya Janata Party member Najma Heptulla said that the bill should cover all the women of the country and not only those of a particular community.
Samajwadi Party member Arvind Kumar Singhconten ded that the bill will be misused.
There have been concerns that provisions of earlier marriage acts were inadequate in cases of irretrievable breakdown of marriage.
The Law Commission in its 71st report submitted in 1978 had recommended amendments to Hindu Marriage Act to make of irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a new ground for divorce. A bill was introduced in Lok Sabha in February 1981 but it lapsed.
The Supreme Court had also made recommendation to make irretrievable breakdown of marriage a ground for divorce in a few of its judgments.
A report of Law Commission in 2009 had also made similar recommendation.
The bill allows wife to oppose grant of divorce on the ground that a dissolution of marriage will result in grave financial hardships. The court can also restrict grant of divorce if it is not satisfied about adequate provision for maintenance of children born of marriage.
The bill also states that the court shall not hold marriage to have broken down irretrievably unless it is satisfied that the parties to the marriage have lived apart for a continuous period of not less than three years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition.
Men's rights activists oppose amendment to marriage law
NAGPUR: Men's rights activists from all across the country are calling on the society to oppose the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010. Calling the proposed bill as an anti-male and anti-marriage entity, the men have opposed discussion of the bill in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament as they feel not enough discussion have been done while formulating the bill. The activists insist that the bill, which gives divorced women an equal stake in the husband's ancestral property, will result in several damaging results, with men being scared of marrying. They also say that it gives the women an unfair advantage. The activists have even declared that not only will they not vote for any member of Parliament who votes in favour of the bill, they would also actively lobby against all such MPs.
Press Trust of India | Updated: May 17, 2012 22:19 IST
New Delhi: Amid the Opposition's demand to make divorce more women-friendly, the government has approved fresh amendments in a bill pending in Rajya Sabha to give the wife a clearly defined share in husband's immovable residential property.
A meeting of the Union Cabinet, Chaired by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, took up new amendments to the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill introduced in the Rajya Sabha earlier this month.
The government also decided to retain the mandatory six-month cooling-off period, which the bill had proposed to do away with in case of divorce with mutual consent. However, to waive the cooling period, both the parties will have to move the application together.
"In other words, the application to reduce the period can't be moved by one party," sources said after the meeting.
Once the divorce is granted, the woman will have to move an application to get share in her husband's property as part of the settlement.
Keeping in mind the demand of the opposition, it has now been decided to give the wife and children a clearly-defined share in the husband's "immovable residential property" in case of a split.
Sensing the mood of the House, Law Minister Salman Khurshid had deferred his reply to the Bill on May 2 in the Upper House.
"The amendments clarify and amplify provisions to be made in case of divorce," the sources said.
The Law Ministry Bill seeks to further amend the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and the Special Marriage Act, 1954.
Cutting across party lines, various members felt that the bill was being brought in haste and its spirit went against the interests of women and feared they would lose their rights further if divorce was made easier.
New bill gives woman share in ex-husband;s inherited property
Himanshi Dhawan, TNN Jul 17, 2013, 10.56PM IST
women and child development|UN Court|Marriage Laws Amendment Bill|A K Antony
(The proposal to give a woman…)
NEW DELHI: A wife will have a share in her husband's inherited or inheritable marital property on divorce, though the exact quantum of the compensation has been left to the discretion of the judge, according to a legislation that was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday.
The Cabinet also cleared the proposal that in cases where divorce has been sought on mutual consent of both parties the judiciary has been given the discretion to grant divorce to one party after a period of three years, even if the man and the wife are no longer on the same page. These were part of the recommendations of the GoM on Marriage Laws Amendment Bill which will now be amended suitably before being brought to Parliament during the monsoon session, beginning August 5.
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