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IRRETRIEVABLE BREAKDOWN OF MARRIAGE Economic Safeguards for Women on Divorce

MAJLIS LEGAL CENTRE, 28th March 2011

Summary The news reports which appeared in the press in July 2010 that the Cabinet had

approved a Bill to be introduced in the 2010 Monsoon Session of Parliament to

include Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage (IBM) as a ground for divorce under the

Hindu Marriage Act and the Special Marriage Act we, at Majlis, were alarmed.

More so, because the news reports projected the amendment as a heaven for women

as they would no longer have to ‘wash their dirty linen’ in public and divorce would

be an easy process henceforth. The proposed Bill had not been advertisement on the

site either of the Law Commission or on the site of the Dept of Law and Judiciary and

hence no one had a clue as to what would be contents of the Bill.

It was indeed shocking that the government was proposing to introduce the bill

without soliciting any support from civil society groups, women’s organizations.

More importantly since it was being touted as a beneficial provision to women.

We have all along felt, even when we read the recommendation from the Law

Commission (Report No.217) brought out in 2009 that such a Bill would be

detrimental to women’s rights. As on organisation whose network of lawyers across

Maharashtra represent women in matrimonial disputes, our concern was that if this

ground is introduced by way of an amendment to the matrimonial law it would be

used indiscriminately against women and cause grave harm to women’s economic

rights, more particularly women’s right to shelter in the matrimonial home.

In the absence of a law for property rights on divorce, IBM will impoverish,

many women who have been in long term marriages and women with children who

have contributed to the marriage, only as home makers. It will render these women

destitute and totally dependent upon their natal family, which may or may not support

them, after several years of marriage.

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We contended that if such a legislation was to be introduced at all, it should be

introduced with clear guidelines regarding economic safeguards for women.

The need of the hour was to plan a comprehensive campaign to counter myths,

influence policy and get a public consensus on the impact of such a provision upon

women both in the urban and rural situations.

The campaign was to be conducted in three phases

Phase 1 – The first task was to generate awareness about the issue and counter the

governments stand of promoting the Bill as a pro women law. For this we planned

meetings with women’s organizations at both regional and national level to generate a

consensus on the issue; publish articles in the press and speak at various forums to

mobilize public opinion; meet and influence some Members of Parliament about

our stand so that they would oppose the Bill if it is introduced and placed for a debate;

impress upon the government that the Bill needs a wider public debate and in order to

facilitate this, refer the Bill to the Joint Select Committee of the Parliament

Phase II – The next step was to gather the opinions of field experts - counselors in

family welfare centers and community based social workers about the government’s

move to introduce the ground of IBM in matrimonial statutes and also elicit their

views on property rights for women on divorce. It was important to present their

views to the government in order to stall the passing of the Bill. For this phase we

approached Action Aid, India for financial support to organise consultation meetings

in 15 districts of Maharashtra where grassroot women and organisations could put

forth their views.

Activities Out Comes Monitoring Indicators.

Orientation Meeting in Mumbai with 30 district lawyers

Provide exposure on the issue of economic safeguards for women that need to be introduced in the context of IBM. Have a focus group discussion on what should be included as economic safeguards for women. Appoint and train lawyers to hold consultations in their districts.

Successful completion of the meeting Appointment of 15 lawyers to hold consultations Feedback from participants

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15 consultations in districts of Maharashtra

To hold 15 consultations across Maharashtra with lawyers who have negotiated economic rights for women, academicians and activists at the grass root level to discuss economic safeguards for women that need to be introduced in the context of IBM.

Successful completion of the meetings Reports from the meetings

Phase III – Armed with this data we would approach the standing committee and

present our findings. We would also meet the Law Minister to ask for a nation wide

consensus about the introduction of a Bill on property rights for women on divorce.

REPORT

IRRETRIEVABLE BREAKDOWN OF MARRIAGE Economic Safeguards for Women on Divorce

Background

Our concern began when news reports appeared in the first week of July stating that

the Cabinet had approved a Bill for introduction in the Monsoon Session of

Parliament which included Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage as a ground for

divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act and the Special Marriage Act. Links to some of

these reports is given below.

Irretrievable breakdown of marriage is now a ground for divorce – ibnlive - 10 Jun 2010 <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HZjQcRV9OlY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Irretrievable breakdown to be ground for divorce Published: Thursday, Jun 10, 2010, 16:41 IST | Updated: Friday, Jun 11, 2010, 1:01 IST By Rakesh Bhatnagar | Place: New Delhi | Agency: DNA http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_govt-to-amend-marriage-laws-seeking-divorce-to-become-easier_1394409

Irretrievable breakdown of marriage is an attempt to introduce one sided

divorce. Once enacted, the parties to a marriage would not have to prove any

matrimonial fault against the other, in order to obtain a divorce. Unfortunately, this

Bill is being promoted as a beneficial provision to women.

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Based on our long term work in defending women in trial court litigation in Mumbai

and smaller district towns of Maharashtra, most women whose husbands file for

divorce come from the middle and lower economic strata of society where women are

primarily home makers and divorce has been filed by their husbands who have

abandoned them for a new relationship. In such a situation the property which is

accumulated during the marriage stands in the husband’s name though the woman

may have contributed to the same in non-economic terms. When the allegations of

cruelty, desertion or adultery cannot be substantiated, the ground that the marriage is

‘broken down irretrievably’ is advanced.

Today the courts do not have the power to grant divorce on this ground. The husband

is then forced to negotiate a monetary settlement with the wife. Introduction of IBM

would take away the negotiating power of the wives as the husband will be certain

that divorce will be granted to him without the need of proving any fault ground such

as cruelty or desertion against the wife. So he will not find the need to arrive at a

settlement with the wife. Our position is that if the power is taken out of women, then

the courts are bound to ensure the economic security of the woman at the time of

divorce. But this provision is lacking in our matrimonial statute at present.

Our concern is that overburdened courts will welcome this move as it will take away

the burden of a cumbersome trial where the courts are compelled to determine the

conduct of the spouses and ascertain whether there is a matrimonial fault which will

entitle a spouse to a divorce. Though the Bill has a provision that if the divorce will

cause grave hardships to women, it cannot be granted. But what constitutes ‘grave

hardship’ on what basis will the court determine that the marriage has broken down

‘irretrievably’, will the provision of three years separation suffice to determine the

‘irretrievable’ breakdown of marriage, and within a patriarchal framework of the

society where property is divided only on title, and the courts are used to granting

only a meager amount of maintenance, will they be in a position to arrive at the

proposition of ‘equitable’ division of property, over riding title, these become key

questions that need to be elaborately addressed before a Bill on IBM is introduced n

Parliament.

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We would like to emphasize that it is not our position that such legislation should not

be introduced at all. However in such a situation we need to spell out the non-

economic contribution of the wife to the marriage while arriving at divorce a

settlement. We need statutory provisions for distribution of property and assets

between the spouses which the courts will be able to follow at the time of divorce.

Only then will we be able to secure the rights of a vulnerable class of women.

We are proposing that an economic security for women should be built into the

provision of IBM. We need to examine some key concerns such as whether the

marriage is a long term or short term one, whether the wife is a wage earner and also

a home maker or merely a home maker, and which of the spouses is desirous of

obtaining a divorce and is keen to move on in life. These become key concerns in this

discourse. Other factors such as age and class also play a role.

Phase I In phase one of the campaign we wanted to generate awareness about the issue. We

also wanted to expose the governments stand of promoting the issue as a pro women

law. We decided that the immediate need was to stall the implementation of the bill.

We thus had to intervene at the policy level.

The campaign received widespread support from various organisations and

individuals across the country who work in the field of women’s rights.

Enclosed please find a List of Organisations who supported the campaign.

Public Media Campaign

However there were also several myths in the media about how the Bill would be

beneficial to women. As a group concerned with defending women during litigation,

we needed to place our concerns regarding our opposition to the passing of this Bill

without necessary economic safeguards, and that such a move would be detrimental to

the rights of a large number of women in our country. To needed to expose the gulf

between statutory legal reforms and its impact upon communities within the complex

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fabric of legal pluralism in our country. To this effect we conducted an extensive

internet campaign and also published a number of articles on the issue.

Some of the articles that appeared in the media during that time Till Irretrievable Breakdown Of Marriage Do Us Part ... 29 Nov 2010 ... India: Till Irretrievable Breakdown Of Marriage Do Us Part - Women's ...Noted lawyer Flavia Agnes said, "The main reason we oppose IBM is ... www.faqs.org › Articles › November 29, 2010 - Cached Restitution of Conjugal Rights in Indian Matrimonial Law - lassnet ... 21 Dec 2010 ... Flavia Agnes, Majlis (*). When is a marriage deemed to be savable ...theory of 'irretrievable breakdown of marriage' in the Indian context. ... www.lassnet.org/panel1-4.html - Cached 'Women don't need to stay in a violent marriage' - Mumbai - DNA 2 Aug 2010 ... DNA spoke to women's right activist Flavia Agnes of Majlis ... When the government wants to make irretrievable breakdown of marriage a ... www.dnaindia.com › MUMBAI - Cached Campaign against Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage Bill .... Please help generate as much awareness about this issue as possible. Thank you. Flavia Agnes. www.majlisbombay.org/.../Irretrievable%20breakdown%20of%20marriage%20note%20July%2014,... Lies and the Law in Divorce Battles | iGoa 30 Jul 2010... the Bill to make Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage ground for ...According to noted lawyer, Flavia Agnes of Majlis, this is the only ... www.navhindtimes.in/ilive/lies-and-law-divorce-battles - Cached NewsManthan: Family lawyers oppose fresh ground for divorce 4 Aug 2010 ... Related Posts: Flavia Agnes, irretrievable breakdown of marriage, lawyer, new law drafting. Posted by indi manthan at 3:28:00 PM ... newsmanthan.blogspot.com/.../family-lawyers-oppose-fresh-ground-for.html - Cached Women don't need to stay in a violent marriage - 3dsyndication.com 2 Aug 2010 ... Brinda Majithia spoke to women's right activist Flavia Agnes of Majlis ...makes irretrievable breakdown of marriage a ground for divorce? ... www.3dsyndication.com › English News & Features Discussion on Women's Right to Matrimonial Property, July 24 ... 12 Jul 2010 ... Irretrievable Breakdown Of Marriage ... Flavia Agnes Majlis. To add your names to the list of groups and individuals who support the ... ngopost.org/.../discussion-women’s-right-matrimonial-property-july-24-bombay - Cached

Garnering government support

It was important to explain the adverse repercussions of the Bill to Members of

Parliament, who would be present at the passing of the bill, so that they would oppose

the Bill when it was placed before them.

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We approached Mr. Milind Deora, Hon’ble Member of Parliament from Mumbai

about our concerns and he whole heartedly supported the campaign. We also spoke to

Ms. Priya Dutt, another Member of Parliament from Mumbai. We were assured of

CPM’s support in the House as its women’s wing All India Democratic Women’s

Association (AAIDWA) was one of the important fellow organisations which had

extended its support to this campaign and had strongly opposed the move to introduce

the Bill.

Please find enclosed a letter by Mr. Milind Deora to the Hon’ble Law Minister

Our next step was to approach Dr. Veerappa Moily, Hon’ble Minister for Law &

Justice. Through our meeting we learnt that he had placed the Cabinet on the firm

belief that it would a beneficial provision for women and hence there would be no

opposition to it by women’s groups. He gave us a patient hearing and gave his

assurance that the Bill will not be debated in the House until the women's

organizations are able to express their opinions on it.

Women's groups get law minister's assurance - Times Of India 22 Jul 2010... meeting called by the National Commission of Women in the first week of August. ... Women's groups have, however, expressed concern that the proposed law ... SC benches differ on 'irretrievable breakdown' of marriage ... articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/.../28285308_1_irretrievable-breakdown-hindu-marriage-act-law-ministry -

Subsequent to our meeting the Bill was introduced in Parliament on 4th August., 2010

but was not placed for a debate. Instead, upon introduction, it was referred to the

Standing Committee headed by Ms. Jayanti Natarajan on August 6, 2010

Liasoning and networking with women’s Organisations

A consultation was organised by Majlis and the National Commission for Women in

Mumbai on 2nd August 2010. More than 90 participants from across the country

including lawyers who have negotiated economic rights for women, academicians and

activists who have worked on division of matrimonial property rights were present.

The Special Marriage Act,1954 - NCW::Reviews of Laws relating to Women by National Commission for Women (NCW). No.24. The Special Marriage Act, 1954 ... D) 'district' in relation to a Marriage Officer, means the are for

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which . Irretrievable breakdown of marriage should be added as a ground for divorce . ncw.nic.in/frmReportLaws24.aspx - Cached Discussion on Women's Right to Matrimonial Property, July 24 ... 12 Jul 2010 ... The National Commission for Women has committed to hold a day-long ...the woman wants divorce, irretreivable breakdown of marriage(which ... ngopost.org/.../discussion-women’s-right-matrimonial-property-july-24-bombay - Cached Irretrievable Breakdown Of Marriage ... 13 Jul 2010 ... The National Commission for Women has committed to hold a day-long ...Irretrievable breakdown of marriage is an attempt to introduce one ... palashbiswaslive.blogspot.com/.../fwd-irretrievable-breakdown-of-marriage.htm

It was unanimously agreed that Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage should not be

introduced unless economic security for women could be built into the provision. The

deliberations and discussions revolved around:

a) Impact of Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage on women.

b) In the absence of a law, what are the situations wherein women manage to get

lump sum economic settlements?

c) What could be constituted as fair and reasonable settlement at the time of

divorce?

Phase II

Our strategy for phase II was to influence the Standing Committee as to the adverse

repercussions of the Bill on women. In order to do that, we now needed to present

concrete views of women from urban and rural settings.

Legislative reform should be beneficial to a large number of women and hence we

decided to have consultation across Maharashtra to gather recommendations and

suggestions at the grass root level With the support of Action Aid we were able to

take the campaign to the next level.

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Orientation

Majlis invited its network of women lawyers across Maharastra to attend the

orientation meeting. These women lawyer share our concerns for women’s legal

rights and have worked with us on campaigns relating to gender and law.

The orientation was organised in Mumbai on 17th December 2010 and was attended

by 50 district lawyers working in rural Maharastra. The meeting was held at the All

India Institute of local Self Government at Andheri (West), Mumbai

Advocate Flavia Agnes introduced the topic and gave an orientation to the historical

background of the remedy of Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage, its position in

different countries, both Western and non-Western and how this remedy has been

introduced in India through judge made laws. The recommendations made at the

national level consultation was discussed and elaborated. Ms. Pooja Kute from Majlis

presented our recommendations on economic safeguards that can be introduced.

Comments and suggestions from the meeting

1. How to define Matrimonial property?

2. What should be included as Matrimonial Property?

3. Who will decide about what to include in Matrimonial Property?

4. Should the matrimonial property be divided at the time of divorce?

5. How women can get the financial support after the divorce?

Participant expressed their ideas as follows :-

1. Wife’s name should be included in the abstract of 7/12, at the time of marriage.

2. If the husband is government servant then wife’s name should be mentioned as

his nominee.

3. While withdrawing the salary, it should be withdrawn only after joint signature of

husband and wife.

4. What about those women whose husband are not working in the Govt. Sector?

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5. What about those women whose husband do not having agriculture land?

6. What about women whose name is not there in the nomination form of the

husband service record, but what will be the status of such women after the

divorce?

7. What about the cases in which the husband who is farmer commits suicide due to

burden of loan & ultimately his burden will came on his wife in such

circumstances what was the use to seeing the agriculture land only at the marriage

time?

8. One of the advocate gave the idea of joint pass-book for salary & should be sign

by both but what about the women whose husbands are laborers, drivers or having

business.

Participants were asked to reflect on other ways of dealing with the issue.

• Can the Joint name be mentioned on the records of the housing society?

• If the agriculture property is under the burden of loan?

• Should the matrimonial property be declared before the court at the first

instance at the time of filing a petition for IBM ?

• Should women’s property also be part of the joint property scheme and

declared acordingly?

• What if the residential flat is secured through obtaining a bank loan. Should

the wife be asked to split the loan equally?

• What about the Joint Family Property or the property owned by other

members of the Joint Family and the husband is merely the beneficiary?

After much discussion participant shared their ideas as follows:

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1. Before Marriage both the parties should make the VIVARAN- PATRA and both

the parties should declared their property. Every family should have a vivaran-patra

copy with them and vivaran-patra should be the essential document to get the

marriage certificate.

2) After divorce women should get the Rojgar Hami card from the Govt. to meet her

financial needs.

3) If wife was working and earning well and left the job due to the demand of her

matrimonial family, should she be compensated for it?

The conclusion was that Irretrievable breakdown of marriage provision should not be

a ground for divorce.

Photographs from the meeting

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The second half of the meeting was to orient lawyers who would be conducting the

research. 30 lawyers were selected to organise and coordinate similar consultations in

15 districts across Maharashtra.

The lawyers would work in groups of two to organise 15 (half day) consultations.

Each consultation will be of 50 local participants from their areas. These would

include lawyers, women’s rights activists and academicians working in the area of

gender and law. Comments and suggestions from each consultation would be collated

and documented.

The following 15 districts were selected for the half day consultations.

Amravati

Akola

Ahmednagar

Aurangabad

Sangli

Yavatmal

Nagpur

Raigad

Nanded

Osmanabad

Wardha

Satara

Chandrapur

Pune

Nashik

The 30 lawyers were given resource material and detailed guidelines on how to

conduct the consultation and procedures to collect feedback. Mock presentations were

conducted so that the lawyers were in a position to carry forward the concerns

expressed at the meeting in Mumbai to the districts and rural areas.

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District Consultations

Fifteen consultations were held in the above listed districts during the months of

December and January. Each consultation was attended on an average by around 30-

50 local participants comprising of lawyers, social workers, local activists and

academicians. Since the lawyers selected for the workshops already have a base and

are well known in their local areas as women’s rights layers organising the workshops

was not a problem.

The district consultations brought out many more complexities of the issue of division

of property which had not been raised during the meetings held in Mumbai. Some of

these concerns are listed below:

• An illiterate woman does not have knowledge about the husband’s property. If

the husband does not disclose the property, how is this information to be

obtained by the court?

• How can we trust the husband to make a true and voluntary disclosure at the

time of filing for divorce?

• The husbands do not have independent income. The property is the joint

family property declared as agricultural property. How is it to be divided at

the time of divorce?

• With the fear of having to distribute their property, would husbands resort to

killing their wives instead of abandoning them? Would this provision make

women more vulnerable to violence and death in their matrimonial home?

• How can we make use of the provision saat-baara utara to determine the

husband’s share in the joint family property? The land records will become

useful at the time of divorce to determine the extent of husband’s property

available for distribution.

• Some regions of Maharashtra are extremely backward and poverty stricken.

In some districts farmers burdened with debt are committing suicides. So

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how will this provision help women from such families. Groups are already

dealing with helping widows whose husbands have committed suicide?

Should there is a separate government grant available to women upon divorce

if the families are declared to be below poverty line families.

• How can women access available government schemes to avert them from

poverty and destitution. Can the courts and panchayats help women to

procure these grants?

• For some women, divorce is not the answer. It is the status of being married

that is crucial to them. The wives are anyway abandoned and deserted. But

they are not keen for divorce as divorce will render them even more

vulnerable and prone to societal and sexual violence. The husbands are poor

and they are not in a position to offer any financial settlements to the wife. In

such cases, divorce should not be granted to the husband so that she can atleast

continue to have her social security as a married woman.

It was unanimously agreed that marriage renders most women destitute. Women do

not receive any economic settlement at the time of divorce. In most cases, which are

handled by the NGOs, the husbands agree to pay a meager amount of maintenance but

even this amount he pays only for a few months and then stops. There are hardly any

cases where women receive a substantial settlement to help them relocate themselves

after divorce. Domestic violence continues in most homes as women do not have a

way out. Their families do not accept them back. If women are secured that they

have a right to claim even a small percentage of their matrimonial property, women

will not live in situations of domestic violence. Such a provision will help women to

fight domestic violence even more than the provisions of the Domestic Violence Act

which ensures only a right of residence and not a right to matrimonial property.

These where important insights which helped us to present a more comprehensive

picture before the Parliamentary Standing Committee.

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Photographs from the district consultations

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Phase III

Majlis submitted an preliminary report to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on

24th September, 2010. While giving the background and context of the issue we

submitted three main prayers.

MEMORANDUM TO THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON

PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES, LAW AND JUSTICE ON THE MARRIAGE LAWS (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2010.

INTRODUCTION OF IRRETRIEVABLE BREAKDOWN OF

MARRIAGE

The introduction of Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage (IBM) as a

ground for Divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act and Special Marriage

Act as envisaged in the aforesaid Bill will cause irreparable and severe

economic hardship to women. Therefore, IBM should not be introduced

as a ground for divorce unless substantial and extensive provisions

safeguarding women’s economic rights are built into this provision.

In India, marriages function on a gendered premise where there is wide

disparity between the roles, functioning and responsibilities of husbands

and wives. While men’s contribution to the marriage relationship is

mainly economic, most women contribute to the marriage in non-

economic terms as home makers and primary care takers of their children.

At the time of divorce, women’s non-economic contribution is not taken

into account as we still follow the old English system of dividing the

property based on title.

Further, our concern is that this provision will be used indiscriminately by

husbands and thereby impoverish many women especially those who have

contributed to the marriage, only as home makers. It will render these

women destitute and totally dependent upon their natal family, which may

or may not support them, after several years of marriage.

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ABOLITION OF WAITING PERIOD OF SIX MONTHS

The waiting period of six months before a Petition for Mutual Consent

Divorce is decreed should not be abolished as envisaged in the Bill. The

introduction of this section would be contrary to the letter and spirit of the

Hindu Marriage Act and Family Courts Act which aim at counselling and

reconciliation rather than instant divorce. If the waiting period is abolished

it will cause inconceivable hardship to women especially those from

disadvantaged backgrounds.

We also convinced other like minded people to submit their individual petitions to

the committee in order to garner enough support.

Presentation before the Standing Committed

Based on our written presentation we were invited by Ms. Jayanti Natrajan,

Chairperson of the Standing Committed on ‘PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES,

LAW AND JUSTICE ON THE MARRIAGE LAWS (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2010’

to present our views. It was extremely important that we were able to place before the

committee concerns of urban and rural women. We were able to show how women

grapple to negotiate for their rights in both formal and non formal legal institutions.

They were extremely impressed that we had done by way of the consultations in such

short time.

There were other very regressive organisations like Save the Family and Nari

Rakshak, Inlaws against 498A. They presented derogatory statements against women

and accused women of misusing the law. To be present there to counter their views

and influence the committee of 16 member was of prime importance.

Based on comprehensive recommendations and suggestions collected from 15

districts, we submitted a further report to the standing committee and brought before

the committee both urban and rural realities of women. .

GAINS OF THE PROJECT

The standing committee report was has been released and it is with great pride that we

inform you that they have endorsed the views that Majlis presented.

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Committee’s Observations/ Recommendations

The Committee strongly feels that there are certain vital social and legal

issues on the subject that need to be addressed before this new ground of

divorce is introduced.

Clauses 2 and 6 of the Bill

(Doing away with the waiting period of 6 months before moving a

joint motion in case of divorce by mutual consent)

While deliberating on the Bill, the Committee has come across a strong

view expressing apprehension about the likely adverse social impact in

doing away with the cooling off period of 6 months for moving a joint

motion after filing a petition for grant of divorce by mutual consent. The

Committee, therefore, is of the view that the existing provisions of law

for divorce by mutual consent are fair and reasonable and the prevailing

cooling off period be retained so as to protect and preserve the institution

of marriage.

Clauses 3 and 7 of the Bill

(Introduction of irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a new

ground of divorce)

The written/ oral submissions made before the Committee have brought

forth serious apprehensions regarding the likely misuse of the proposed

new ground of divorce, as formulated in the Bill, against women,

particularly those in the rural areas.

The Committee, accordingly, recommends that the Bill should

provide for some safeguards so that the new ground for divorce is not

misused.

The right to oppose grant of decree of divorce if the same results in

‘grave financial hardship’ to her. financial hardship’ appearing here is

capable of varied interpretation. “grave financial hardship” may be

defined so that there is less of ambiguity. Provisions of the Bill so that

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the interests of the women are better safeguarded in the divorce

proceedings in the court.

During the course of its deliberations on the Bill, the Committee’s

attention has been drawn to another very vital aspect of the Matrimonial

Law which relates to the rights of the wife to matrimonial property

in case of divorce. Quite a few of the women’s organizations have

emphasized on this aspect before the Committee and demanded that

while granting divorce, it needs to be ensured that the women get

their share atleast in the assets/ properties which the parties to the

marriage have acquired during the subsistence of the marriage. The

Committee finds logic in this demand of the various women’s

organizations. It is generally seen that in majority of cases women are

left with very little to fall back upon after the divorce and quite often they

also have to bear the burden of the children born out of the wedlock. In

such situations, it seems quite natural for women to feel cheated when

they are left to their fate without any roof or financial support although

during the subsistence of marriage they might have contributed in varied

forms in the matrimonial family in the prime of their age. This is more

true in case of working women. Accordingly, the Committee feels that

there should be some effective legal mechanism so that the women

atleast get their share in the matrimonial property which has been

acquired during the subsistence of marriage. The Committee,

accordingly, recommends the Government to make adequate provisions

in the Matrimonial Law to ensure that the courts, while adjudicating on

divorce petitions, also decide upon women’s share in the matrimonial

property while granting divorce so that they are not deprived of the

assets/properties in which they have contributed during the continuance

of marriage.

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MEDIA REPORTS ON the STANDING COMMITTEE REPORT The Pioneer: February 12, 2011- “Divorcing Women to soon have Property Rights too”, Annapurna Jha, Link: http://www.dailypioneer.com/317254/Divorcing-women-to-soon-have-property-rights-too.html Indian Express: March 01, 2011- “Panel Opposes Doing Away with Waiting Period Before Divorce”, Link: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/panel-opposes-doing-away-with-waiting-period-before-divorce/756406/ Deccan Herald: March 1, 2011 - “Panel Opposes Doing Away with Waiting Period Before divorce”, Link: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/142112/panel-opposes-doing-away-waiting.html

India Today: March 2, 2011- “House panel says no to divorce law”, Kavita Chowdhury, Link: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/131263/india/house-panel-headed-by-congress-mp-jayanthi-natarajan-objects-to-divorce-law-rejig.html

Hindustan Times: March 2, 2011 – “House Panel Rejects Govt’s Divorce Proposal”, Nagendar Sharma, Link: http://www.hindustantimes.com/House-panel-rejects-govt-s-divorce-proposal/Article1-668356.aspx The Hindu : March 7, 2011 – “Parliamentary Panel Recommends Safeguards to Amended Divorce Law”, Link: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1515178.ece DNA: March 7, 2011- “Cooling-off period before divorce must stay: Panel” Vineeta Pandey, Link: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_cooling-off-period-before-divorce-must-stay-panel_1516595 Times of India: March 8, 2011 - “BJP, Left unite over divorce law”, Himanshi Dhawan, Link: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-03-08/india/28667786_1_irretrievable-breakdown-marriage-laws-divorce-by-mutual-consent

MSN News: March 1, 2011- “Panel Opposes Doing Away with Waiting Period Before Divorce”, Link: http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4981748

IBN Live: March 1, 2011 – “Panel Opposes Doing Away with Waiting Period Before Divorce”, Link: http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/panel-opposes-doing-away-with-waiting-period-before-divorce/594317.html Zee News: March 1, 2011, “Panel Opposes Doing Away with Waiting Period Before Divorce”, Link: http://www.zeenews.com/news690599.html

Blogs http://legal-injustice.blogspot.com/2011/03/irretrievable-breakdown-of-marriage.html

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Conclusion In conclusion we feel that our timely action research helped to stall a cabinet

approved Bill that would otherwise have been passed without anyone realizing the

implications and harm it would have caused to women.

In the past several High Courts and the Supreme Courts as well as the Law

Commission Reports (71st Report brought out in 1978 as well as the 217th Report

brought out in 2009) had recommended the introduction of the Irretrievable

Breakdown of Marriage as a ground for divorce on the basis that several Western

countries had introduced similar remedies. But the fact that the Western countries

had also simultaneously introduced the provision of division of matrimonial property

into the marriage laws, to safeguard the economic entitlements of women, was never

highlighted. This is the first time it has been officially recognized that the provison of

IBM cannot be introduced without due protection to women in terms of division of

matrimonial property. So now the government will seriously consider introduction of

such a provision.

This is an apt reply to all anti-women and pro-men’s rights organizations who had

deposed before the Select Committee that the provision should be introduced without

any delay as it is just and fair to men and that women in any case have a right of

maintenance and further, that cases filed under Section 498A (cruelty to wives)

should immediately be dropped when a petition for IBM is presented in a civil court.

The time is now ripe to carry further research on the provisions that should be

included into a law on division of matrimonial property and women’s organizations

and statutory bodies like the National Commission for Women will have more time to

dwell on the subject and submit a concrete proposal to the government on this issue.

Ms. Flavia Agnes of Majlis has been invited to be a member of the committee formed

by the National Commission for Women to formulate recommendations to the

government.

We intend to take this issue further through discussions with National Commission

for Women and the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Law Minister.