Wives & lovers

RIDDHIMA SEAL / TNN / Apr 25, 2007, 15:43 IST

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The Rajasthan High Court has allowed a woman to live in with her lover and that too against her husband's will.

The Rajasthan High Court has allowed a woman to live in with her lover and that too against her husband's will.
The bells of justice seem to be ringing totally in favour of women. While barely a couple of months ago the National Policy on Criminal Justice recommended that adultery by women be converted from a criminal offence to a civil one, a recent judgment passed by the Rajasthan High Court has gone a step further in giving women their due rights.
In what came as a path breaking news of sorts, justices GC Mishra and KC Sharma of the Rajasthan High Court passed a judgment last Wednesday allowing Manju, a married woman of 20, to live in with her lover, Suresh, against her husband's will.
The judgment also said that nobody should be allowed to consider an adult as a consumer product. Even as the Supreme Court readies to take a deeper look at the judgment, closer home, it has evoked a mixed response of sorts.

While a section of liberals have cheered, another has not refrained from expressing extreme concern over the judiciary questioning the fundamental institution like marriage.
Says women's rights activist Anuradha Kapoor, "It would be unfair to make a general comment on the judgment. Keeping aside the legal dimensions, it is indeed a very bold move. I'm completely in agreement with the court when it says that you can't hand over any unwilling woman to her husband. It's great to see that such a judgment has been passed by the Rajasthan High Court, which is otherwise considered a very conservative state. We are taking a step towards the betterment of women who have suffered for long."

In full agreement with her is a member of the National Commission for Women who spoke to CT on conditions of anonymity, "The step should remind men that they cannot treat their wives as mere property elements. No one can force an adult woman to forcefully stay on with someone."
While most of these activists preferred to remain mum on the judgment on the possibility of the sanctity of marriage as an institution, a few others prefer to raise their voice drawing attention to the flip sides of such a verdict.
Says sociologist Rabindra Ray, "At a time when society is fighting hard to make marriages last, such judgments will act as the final blow. There are chances of misusing the law too, a case in point being Article 498A. While I definitely support such a judgment, I wouldn't be very surprised if urbane women draw references from this particular case to an extent where the very institution lies questioned."
However, Kolkata High Court lawyer Tamal Mukherjee feels that the hype over this judgment is uncalled for.
"The way the media has been projecting the judgment is very wrong. People are only reading the final verdict while ignoring the finer points of the case. The very lines on which the case was filed was wrong. The woman's husband filed a habeas corpus petition and the court rightly came down hard on the misuse of such petitions by men. So, it is too early to point fingers at the judiciary for questioning the institution of marriage."
We also believe in keeping our fingers crossed and agreeing with what he says.
riddhima.seal@timesgroup.com

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