ABUSE OF HINDU MARRIAGE ACT 1955 BY WOMEN BY - HIMANSHI SHARMA
ABUSE OF HINDU MARRIAGE ACT
1955 BY WOMEN
AUTHORED BY - HIMANSHI SHARMA
Contact no- 8003772767
Email id- himanshisharma0495@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
With every law being enforced, there
follows an abuse of the provisions of the Act. In this research paper, we have
talked about the abuse of Hindu Marriage Act 1955, specifically by women. Hindu
Marriage Act is a gender specific act, slightly inclined towards women and this
becomes a reason for them to misuse the Act for their benefit. We have
explained this issue with the help of case studies and examples. We have
specified the ways through which this Act is abused and the role of gender
dynamics in power imbalances. We have mentioned the impact this abuse tends to
have on the society. Legal reforms and remedies are also provided, so that,
this abuse can be minimized by the courts as well as the citizens.
With the help of this research, we
wish to bring certain reforms in the Hindu Marriage Act 1955. For this purpose,
we have also suggested some recommendations for facilitating smooth enforcement
of the Act without any abuse.
LIST
OF CASES
|
SR. NO.
|
NAME OF CASES
|
|
1
|
Mangesh Balkrushna Bhoir v Sau. Leena
Mangesh Bhoir
|
|
2
|
Mrs. Deepalakshmi Sachin Zingade v. Sachin
Rameshrao Zingade
|
|
3
|
Anil Bharadwaj v. Nimlesh Bharadwaj
|
|
4
|
Joydeep Majumdar v. Bharti Jaiswal Majumdar
|
|
5
|
Amarjeet Singh v. Union of India
|
1. INTRODUCTION
A
thorough legal framework for divorce in Hindu marriages is provided by the
Hindu Marriage Act of 1955. It lists several justifications for filing a
divorce petition in court. Having sex freely outside of marriage, being cruel
or abandoned, turning to another religion, being mentally ill, contracting
infectious diseases, giving up on life, and going missing for seven years or
longer are some of these reasons. Wives may also file for divorce on certain
grounds, including the husband's second marriage, maintenance concerns, guilt
for sodomy or rape, early marriage, and divorce by consent. By allowing a
period of reflection prior to granting a divorce by mutual consent, the Act
ensures that Hindu marriage dissolution is a just and equitable process that
treats both parties equally.
The
statement made by Justice S. Vaidyanathan of the Madras High Court that "unfortunately,
there is no law like Domestic Violence Act for husband to proceed against the
wife" has received a lot of attention from the public, jurists, and
litigants because it appears that the statement is accurate given the current
situation, in which Indian courts are also the scene of false litigation,
especially regarding women's laws like Domestic Violence, 498A, Maintenance,
and in some instances, divorce law also.
2. ABUSE OF HINDU MARRIAGE ACT, 1955
The
abuse of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 typically refers to situations where
individuals manipulate or misuse the provisions of the act for personal gain or
to the detriment of others. This can manifest in various ways, such as:
v False
Claims: Some people may file for divorce or make false claims of marriage under
the act in order to take advantage of certain legal loopholes or to obtain
benefits like money or property.
v Bigamy: The
act forbids a person from getting married a second time while they are still
legally married to their first spouse.
v Dowry
Harassment: Although the act expressly forbids dowries, some instances of
harassment connected to dowries persist.
v Misuse of
Maintenance Provisions: During divorce proceedings, spouses may demand unfair
amounts of money in violation of maintenance provisions.
v Fraudulent
Conversions: There have been instances of people converting to Hinduism under
false presences in order to get married under the Hindu Marriage Act.
v Unfair Use
of Divorce Grounds: Certain people may take advantage of divorce grounds, such
as cruelty or desertion, in order to obtain a favourable outcome in the divorce
process.
v Caste-Based
Discrimination: When looking for a marriage partner, some people may use the
act to discriminate on the basis of caste or community.
These
are just a few examples of how the Hindu Marriage Act can be abused. Legal
disputes, social problems, and personal hardships can result from such abuses.
Legal authorities and the judiciary frequently use legal processes to deal with
these abuses, and there have been talks about changing the act to stop its
misuse and make it more in line with changing social norms.
3. GENDER DYNAMICS AND POWER IMBALANCES
The
roles and responsibilities of women in marriage are very different from those
of men. The man helps the family, and his value can be calculated economically.
In a marriage, the woman takes on a submissive role as the homemaker. She is
the family's and community's cultural norm repository. However, under
matrimonial laws, this unequal status between the spouses is not recognised.
When filing for divorce, adultery, desertion, and cruelty are the same
specified grounds that apply to both men and women.
However,
the cruelty incidents that men bring up in their divorce petitions differ
significantly from the cruelty incidents that women use as justification. It's
analogous with comparing apples and oranges.
Let's
look at some of the issues that are discussed in divorce cases that are being
heard by our courts.
While
filing for divorce, husbands cite various acts of cruelty against their wives.
These include failing to prepare meals on time, forgetting to make tea when the
husband returns from work (even though the wife may also be an earning member),
refusing to have sex, ending a pregnancy, covering her head in public or in
front of in-laws, refusing to wear sindoor or a mangal sutra, the symbols of
marriage, demanding to establish a separate residence apart from the joint
family, filing a case under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (relating to
dowry), and more.
Divorce
petitions filed by women typically have very different grounds. Their
foundation lies in the matter of basic survival: forcing her out of the marital
home, incessant demands for dowry or taunting her parents for their inability
to provide a larger dowry, not paying maintenance, stealing her jewellery and
other valuables, which she considers her stridhan, keeping her from pursuing
gainful employment or depriving her of her income, disparaging her moral
character, severe physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, denying her custody or
access to the children, etc. These are the main reasons why the woman filed for
divorce.
In
patriarchal societies with patrilineal housing, women typically leave their
birth families and move in with their husbands, where they have not even had
their right to residence recognised until recently. The husband may simply
forbid her from entering again and then claim desertion when the wife is sent
to deliver the child to her birth family. The concept of constructive
desertion, which applies when a husband intentionally forbids his wife from
returning, was not developed by courts for a long time. As a result, it is
evident that men and women experience the ground of desertion in different
ways.
As
the husband was the lord and master (pati parmeshwar) and it was the wife's sacred
duty to obey him, it was the husband's prerogative to choose the location of
the matrimonial residence. If the wife started working somewhere far away, the
husband could file for restitution of conjugal rights, which the courts would
grant. This is the case even though, in 1955, the Hindu Marriage Act converted
Hindu marriages into legally binding civil unions.
The
Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, like many other traditional marriage laws, has been
criticized for perpetuating certain gender dynamics and power imbalances within
Hindu marriages in India. Here are some key points to consider:
·
Patriarchal Norms: The Act perpetuates and reflects
patriarchal norms in many ways. It frequently assigns women to more submissive
roles and men to positions of authority. For example, it customarily gives
husbands more authority to make decisions in the marriage.
·
Arranged Marriages: In Hindu culture, arranged
marriages are common, even though they are not limited to the Hindu Marriage
Act. These arrangements can occasionally result in power imbalances because one
or both parties may feel pressured to live up to expectations from their
families or society.
·
Dowry: Although it is prohibited, some situations
still involve the practise of dowry. When the bride's family is expected to
give the groom's family a sizeable dowry, this can result in financial power
imbalances.
·
Maintenance and Alimony: Provisions for maintenance
and alimony are included in the Act. These provisions may occasionally be
abused or applied inconsistently in divorce or separation cases, creating
disparities in financial power.
·
Cruelty and Desertion Grounds: The Act allows for
divorce based on these two categories. These clauses may occasionally be
abused, leading to one party falsely accusing the other, thus escalating power
disparities.
·
Cultural Expectations: Gender dynamics in Hindu
marriages are frequently influenced by cultural norms and expectations. There
may be pressure on women in particular to adopt traditional roles and
behaviours.
·
Property Rights: Although the Act has been amended to
better protect women's property rights, property disputes persist, and women
may still face discrimination in the ownership of real estate.
·
Religious Conversion: There have been cases where
people have converted to Hinduism or another religion only to get married under
the Hindu Marriage Act. This has led to concerns about the power dynamics
surrounding conversion.
These
power disparities and gender dynamics have been addressed. The Act's amendments
and other laws, such as the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, are
designed to give Hindu married women greater rights and protection. Over time,
these dynamics will also be challenged and altered by shifting educational and
social norms.
4. IMPACT ON FAMILIES AND SOCIETY
The
wife can file a complaint against husband under Section 498A, IPC, The Hindu
Marriage Act, 1955 and the Domestic Violence Act, 2005. But there have also
been cases where a wife filed a false complaint against her husband. Since
Indian laws are biassed in favour of women, the husband had no recourse in such
situations. The inequitable nature of these laws makes it evident that, in
contrast to other Indian laws, the burden of proof in cases pertaining to the
protection of women rests with the accused to establish his innocence. This
implies that, in the event that a wife files a First Information Report (FIR),
the husband and his family members are promptly taken into custody without
giving them a chance to be heard.
However,
the High Court of Bombay's decision in the case of Shri Mangesh
Balkrushna Bhoir v. Sau. Leena Mangesh Bhoir[1],
rendered on December 23, 2015, offered some respite to the husband in
situations involving false accusations. The Court decided that a wife would be
cruel if she filed a false complaint against her husband and his family
members, even though they were found not guilty and there was no evidence
presented against them. Judge R.D. Dhanuka delivered the ruling, holding that
the husband has the right to start a divorce petition against her wife for this
reason.
The
term "cruelty" is not defined in the IPC. Courts in India have
defined cruelty as an inhumane act that injures the mental state of the victim
and endangers their life. Either the husband or the wife may abuse the other
person mentally or physically. According to Section 13(1)(i-a) of The Hindu
Marriage Act, 1955, cruelty is one of the grounds for divorce, and the party
requesting a divorce must prove that the husband and wife can no longer
cohabitate.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The
law regarding abuse against the husband has been resolved by the Supreme Court
following a plethora of false complaints from wives against their spouses. The
wife filed a complaint against her husband in Mrs. Deepalakshmi Sachin
Zingade v. Sachin Rameshrao Zingade[2],
alleging that he had an extramarital affair, which was later proven to be true.
The court took into consideration the wife's cruel act against her husband. In
the same way, the court determined that a wife's refusal to engage in sexual relations
with her husband qualifies as cruelty against him in Anil Bharadwaj v.
Nimlesh Bharadwaj[3].
Other
grounds of cruelty against the husband are-
1. Adultery
by wife during the lifetime of marriage.
2. Misuse
of Section 498A, IPC, the Domestic Violence Act, 2005 and other laws.
3. Desertion
by wife
4. The
Cruel behaviour of a wife.
5. Filing
a false criminal complaint with the intent to harm the husband and his family.
Given the stark reality that wives frequently falsely accuse their husbands, I
believe that the Bombay High Court's decision was entirely appropriate. As a
result, I believe that this ruling should be followed nationwide in order to
uphold the institution of marriage and to penalise women who attempt to deceive
the court system by filing false complaints against their husbands.
5. LEGAL REMEDIES AND REFORMS
The
following are some of the options available for taking legal actions against
false allegations in India:
·
Seeking Anticipatory Bail:
In
India, the victim of a false allegation should first seek anticipatory bail
from the closest court with jurisdiction to do so in the event that a First
Information Report (FIR) is filed against them. This will protect them from
being arrested on the basis of a false accusation. Under Section 438 of the
Code of Criminal Procedure, anticipatory bail may be granted prior to the
making of an arrest. By requesting anticipatory bail, the victim not only
avoids an arrest that could result in severe mental suffering and reputational
damage, but it also gives him more time to better prepare his defence.
·
Quashing of the First
Information Report:
The
High Court of the appropriate state may, by filing an application under Section
482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, quaash a false allegation or complaint
in the form of a First Information Report. The court has the inherent authority
to secure the ends of justice by issuing the necessary orders. But the accused
must prove a number of things, such as that the act or omission against which
the allegation is made did not occur, that the incident described in the
complaint never happened, that the allegations are unfounded and were made out
of personal animosity, etc.
·
Provisions of the Indian
Penal Code, 1860 :
Section 209 of the Indian Penal Code
stipulates that anyone who makes any false claim in a court of justice knowing
it to be false will be punished with up to two years in prison and a fine. This
punishment can also include intentional harm or annoyance. The court has
sufficient authority to apply such provisions as a means of penalising the
offender if it determines that the sanctity and validity of the courts have
been violated. Moreover, anyone who believes that a criminal conspiracy that is
being formed could be used against him in the future may also invoke section
120B of the Indian Penal Code.
·
Provisions of the Indian
Evidence Act, 1872 :
Concrete evidence is a requirement for
supporting any allegation in a court of law. According to Section 193 of the
Indian Evidence Act, anyone who willfully provides false testimony during any
stage of legal proceedings or creates false testimony that could be used during
any stage of legal proceedings faces a maximum seven-year prison sentence in
addition to a fine. Furthermore, Section
196 of the Evidence Act stipulates that an individual who presents false evidence
as authentic or uses it themselves will face the same penalties as if they had
provided false testimony.
·
Provisions of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1973 :
Any
person who has been falsely accused has the right to compensation in the
justice system under a number of sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The same is supported by Section 250 of the Code, which says that anyone who
has been found not guilty may apply for compensation for suffering without a
good reason. If the court finds that the accused is at fault, it may also decide
to sentence the offender to a simple jail term.
6. RECOMMENDATIONS
The
traditional Hindu notion of marriage is based on psychobiological concepts and
guided by moral and compassionate religious precepts. But in the last few
years, individualism and an egocentric perspective have shattered marital
harmony, resulting in a variety of marital conflicts.
It
is still possible to preserve this important institution of marriage in the
modern era by developing social and legal strategies. It is necessary to take
both preventative and remedial action. There is no better plan than educating
the next generation from an early age. Both high school and college curricula
ought to include instruction on human moral principles.
The
sacred element of Hindu marriage should be preserved through public education
for the benefit of spouses, families, kids, and society as a whole. Promoting
adherence to social norms in print and electronic media is crucial. At the
university level, a curriculum for social, psychological, and legal studies
rooted in Hindu ethos should be proposed for marital counsellors. This
curriculum should be distinct from western psychology. The system of marital
counsellors should be implemented throughout society in place of horoscopes.
7. CONCLUSION
Even
though there is no specific statute or provision in the Indian legal system
which lists down protective measures against any false allegation or complaint,
various relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure,
Code of Civil Procedure, and the Indian Evidence Act can be used parallelly to
obtain relief or initiate legal proceedings against frivolous allegations and
complaints.
The
need of the hour is to enact a statute by the legislature that holistically
covers broad paradigms ranging from compensation to imprisonment and fine for
false allegations in order to curb the growing menace of frivolous litigations
in the country and ease the burden from the already burdened shoulders of the
judiciary and the investigating agencies.
8. REFERENCES
·
AIR 2022 and 2021
·
SCC
·
SSRN e Library
·
Live law
·
Bar and Bench
·
The Hindu newspaper
·
Hindu Marriage Act 1955 (Bare act)
·
Book- Hinduism and Matrimonial Disputes by Dr
Ashu Dhiman