Supreme Court
NEW DELHI: Noting that inherent patriarchal discrimination is still the order of the day, Supreme Court has said gifts given by parents not only to their daughter but to the bridegroom at the time of marriage have to be returned to her if it ends in divorce.Applying a provision of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, a bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and N K Singh quashed a Calcutta high court order that had allowed a man to retain the gifts given by his father-in-law.“The Constitution of India prescribes an aspiration for all, ie equality which is, obviously, yet to be achieved. Courts, in doing their bit to this end, must ground their reasoning in social justice adjudication. To put it in context, the scope and object of the 1986 Act is concerned with securing the dignity and financial protection of Muslim women post her divorce which aligns with the rights of women under Article 21 of the Constitution,” the bench said.“The construction of this Act, therefore, must keep at the forefront equality, dignity and autonomy and must be done in the light of lived experiences of women where, particularly in smaller towns and rural areas, inherent patriarchal discrimination is still the order of the day,” the court said. It said Section 3 of the Act granted a woman right over all properties given to her before or at the time of marriage or after her marriage by her relatives or friends or husband or any relatives of the husband or his friends.“The section quoted above deals with mehr/dower and/or other properties given to a woman at the time of her marriage clearing the way for the woman to set up a claim against her husband in the above situations, or claim back from her husband properties given, as the case may be,” the bench said.
