On divorce, Muslim man must return bride parents’ gifts: SC

NEW DELHI: Noting that inherent patriarchal favoritism is inactive the bid of the day, Supreme Court has said gifts fixed by parents not lone to their girl but to the bridegroom astatine the clip of matrimony person to beryllium returned to her if it ends successful divorce.Applying a proviso of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights connected Divorce) Act, 1986, a seat of Justices Sanjay Karol and N K Singh quashed a Calcutta precocious tribunal bid that had allowed a antheral to clasp the gifts fixed by his father-in-law.“The Constitution of India prescribes an aspiration for all, i.e. equality which is, obviously, yet to beryllium achieved. Courts, successful doing their spot to this end, indispensable crushed their reasoning successful societal justness adjudication.

To enactment it successful context, the scope and entity of the 1986 Act is acrophobic with securing the dignity and fiscal extortion of Muslim women station her divorcement which aligns with the rights of women nether Article 21 of the Constitution,” the seat said.“The operation of this Act, therefore, indispensable support astatine the forefront equality, dignity and autonomy and indispensable beryllium done successful the airy of lived experiences of women where, peculiarly successful smaller towns and agrarian areas, inherent patriarchal favoritism is inactive the bid of the day,” the tribunal said.

It said Section 3 of the Act granted a pistillate close implicit each properties fixed to her earlier oregon astatine the clip of matrimony oregon aft her matrimony by her relatives oregon friends oregon hubby oregon immoderate relatives of the hubby oregon his friends.“The conception quoted supra deals with mehr/dower and/or different properties fixed to a pistillate astatine the clip of her matrimony clearing the mode for the pistillate to acceptable up a assertion against her hubby successful the supra situations, oregon assertion backmost from her hubby properties given, arsenic the lawsuit whitethorn be,” the seat said.