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The legality of a matrimonial proceeding initiated by the wife before a family court in India invoking the provisions of theHindu Marriage Actagainst her Hindu husband having his domicile in New Jersey in the United States of America is the substantial issue raised in this writ appeal.
2. The appeal is directed Read More
The Punjab and Haryana High Court upheld the order of the JMFC court which awarded Rs. 40,000/- per month to the wife who filed an interim maintenance application u/s. 20 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
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Crimes against women and statutes to safeguard.
Constitutional provisions
Preamble
We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN, SOCIALIST, SECULAR, DEMOCRATIC, REPUBLIC, and to secure to all its citizens:
Justice, Social, Economic, and Political; Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; Equality of status and of opportunity; And to promote among Read More
In the judgement of Yashitasahu v/s state of Rajasthan In which husband and wife who resided in The USA filed a divorce case in which Joint custody of the child was given to both husband and wife to stay with the child for alternate periods. The wife bought the child to India and filed for Read More
The Bombay High Court in a first of its kind judgement, has contravened the rights of social media influencers and put a cap on their free speech. Rightfully, the Bombay High Court has decided that Social Media Influencers in Today’s social climate have a lot of followers so they do not have unlimited right to Read More
In a case of drunken driving, blood alcohol level is crucial evidence that is required in order to determine the drunkenness of an individual.
But can someone be compelled to give their blood sample or is it violative of the constitutional principle of not being a witness unto himself or the right against self incrimination?
“this Court Read More
The Husband was denied his Divorce Petition in the High Court stating that mere submission of an FIR by wife and a complaint made by her in court does not entitle the husband to a divorce.
However, when the Husband appealed the same to the Supreme Court, it was held that:
The above observation of the High Read More
The Delhi HC defined the difference between ‘Capable of earning’ and ‘Actually Earning’
The wife, being a lawyer, and enrolled in the year 2000, was capable of earning, contended the Husband in the Delhi High Court.
The wife claimed that she had worked only prior to the marriage and on account of their small child, she had Read More
U/S. 304 IPC, the Supreme Court has held that:
a three judge bench had held that any money or property or valuable security demanded by any of the persons mentioned in Section 2 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, at or before or at any time after the marriage which is reasonably connected to the death of Read More
Wherein a woman wanted to claim the property of the deceased and the validity of her marriage came into question, it was held that a mere registration of agreement of marriage without fulfilling the Saptpadi u/s. 7 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 cannot be a valid marriage and an agreement of marriage is not Read More
As per the definition in Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, an adult woman is a woman who is over the age of 18 and an adult male is a male over the age of 21.
A male adult over the age of 18 who marries a female child is punished u/s. 9 of the Prohibition Read More
The Bombay High Court ruled that a Woman who has been seperated from her husband for the past two years can file a DV complaint. It was contended by her husband that as it has been two years, a domestic violence complaint cannot be filed as they had been living separately and since the alleged Read More
Wherein a woman had filed a domestic violence report, against her neighbors and there is no whisper of the fact that the alleged accused are in fact her relatives, the High Court held that the said woman cannot file domestic violence.
The Act of Domestic Violence particularly the Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence, 2005 is Read More
In a landmark judgement, Supreme Court has defined consent in relation to sexual relations being obtained on the premise of getting married. Thus, wherein a couple had sexual relations and the consent of the woman in the said relationship was obtained on the basis that the man told her that they would get married, and Read More
Delhi High Court has held that an order passed for cohabitation does not give sexual rights to either party. The Court cannot enforce sexual relations between the parties. The Courts can only legally ask either party to cohabit but the courts do not and cannot enforce sexual intercourse.
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Wherein a wife demanded privacy and wanted her husband to get another house as they were living with 8 people in a 3BHK, the Delhi High Court held that the wife’s demands were valid and the right to privacy is a fundamental right that the wife is entitled to.
The petition was filed by the husband Read More
Wherein a man was seeking nullity on the marriage as his marriage was solemnized with pheras around an agarbatti, the Bombay High Court dismissed his appeal.
The Bench held that sacred fire has not been defined under the Act.
The court has said:
What is a sacred fire has not been defined in the Act. The fact that Read More
Wherein a husband was trying to get out of paying maintenance on the pretext of wife earning more and he has his parents to look after, Punjab and Haryana High Court decided that:
The Punjab and Haryana High Court inAmit Kumar v. Navjot Dubey,denied to accept the husbands contention and upheld the decision of the district Read More
Wherein a property was sold to another party which had a re-conveyance deed/clause which said that in the event of resale, the said property would reconvene back to the original party. The argument here is whether said property is actually ancestral property or not. In order to arrive at a decision whether this property is Read More
Wherein a drunk man is refusing to give his blood sample to check his alcohol level, can he be compelled to give his blood sample?
Or would the compelling of blood sample fall under the purview of violating his right to self incrimination granted to him under Art. 20(3) of the constitution of India?
“this Court finds Read More
A PIL was filed in the Delhi High Court to declare Martial Rape as a ground for divorce. The Petition was dismissed by a Division bench consisting of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Hari Shankar on the grounds that the Court did not have power to legislate under Article 226 of the Constitution.
It is Read More
A Supreme Court bench consisting of Justice Kishan Kaul and Justice KM Joseph passed an order against the Allahabad High Court, where it was stated that a victim has the right to appeal against any order of acquittal of the accused under Section 372 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
In the above case the accused- Read More
In a recent judgement pronounced by the Ontario Court, where a woman agreed to have sex with the man on the condition that they would use a condom, he penetrated without using the same and putting the woman to a danger of unwanted pregnancy.
The man and woman met through an online dating site where they Read More
In an execution case filed by the SBI Cards and payments, where the Respondent was evading service of notice, the Court held that the notice can be served in a PDF format for the purpose of Order XXI Rule 22 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
The above method was adopted when the Respondent evaded calls Read More
In an application filed under section 24 of the Code of civil procedure for the transfer of matrimonial proceedings, the Calcutta Court rejected it. The transfer application was to transfer the proceedings from Alipore to Birbhum Court on the following grounds:
In the case Rani Sethi vs Sunil Sethi, the trial court had ordered the wife to pay maintenance to the husband which was challenged by the wife.
The claim by the wife was that the court has erred in considering the fact that she had to maintain her two children. Further on the perusal of records Read More
In the case of Smt. Mamta Jaiswal vs Rajesh Jaiswal, where a woman was extremely qualified and held a degree of Msc, M.C. M.Ed was not working. The husband filed a divorce against her on the grounds of cruelty, she was awarded alimony of Rs. 800/- as pendente lite alimony and travelling expenses for attending Read More
The Supreme Court in the case of Vinny Parmar vs Paramvir Parmar on 20 July, 2011 held that no fixed formula can be laid for fixing the amount of maintenance. It has to be in the nature of things which depend on various facts and circumstances of each case..
The Supreme Court found only issue in Read More
A Magistrate has all the powers to order an investigation in a case if the police do not intend to investigate the case. Sections 159 and 157 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides that a magistrate can order investigation of a case if it falls in the jurisdiction of the magistrate.
It is only under Read More
In the case of Jitendar kumar vs State of bihar, the Supreme court emphasized on the need of the assigning reasons for any decision made. In the above case, a petition was dismissed by the High Court without assigning any reason. There was no discussion placed on the submissions made by the Counsel.
The reasons laid Read More
The Supreme court upheld the view of the Telangana High Court division bench which upheld the authority of the commissioner under the CGST act to arrest the defaulters under the CGST Act and to reject any interim relief granted to the defaulters The Supreme court conferred with the above view and clarified that anticipatory bail Read More
In a case before the Bombay High Court, the court held that stamp duty cannot be charged retrospectively on the resale of old flats , giving relief to prospective buyers and sellers.
The High Court stated that Stamp duty is attracted by the instrument that is the sale deed and is not attracted by the transaction. Read More
In the case of Parimal vs Veena Bharti an ex parte decree was passed where the husband obtained divorce against the wife who had refused the service of notice. There was notice sent by process server which was also refused. A public notice was also served in the newspaper. After all the above, the Court Read More
In the case of Tejaswini vs Aravinda Tejas Chandra, the issue which arose was whether the expression unable to maintain herself meant capable of earning. In this case the wife was a holder of a post graduation degree a MBA graduate, and the maintenance under section 125 of the CRPC was dismissed on the above Read More
An advocate discharges professional services. In no way can the services of an advocate be deemed to be termed as commercial, since an advocate renders service, charges fees whereas in a commercial activity there is a practice of business/trade or commerce.
The question whether an advocates office requires registration under the Shops and Establishments Act has Read More
Justice Alexander Thomas, in a recent order set aside the order of the family court directing that the wife will not be entitled to maintenance for one incident of adultery relying on the principle of section 125 and section 488 of the code of criminal procedure.
In order to disentitle a wife from maintenance it must Read More
The Supreme Court in the case of Lalita Kumari vs State of UP had to decide upon two issues mainly if the police can register a First Information Report (F.I.R) upon their discretion. Secondly,if the police are entitled to check the truthfulness of the complaint.
The Supreme Court cleared the divergent opinions of various High Courts Read More
In the case of N. Sreeramudu, S/O. N. Narayana vs Kum. N. Lahari, decided by the Andhra High Court, the issues faced in this case were mainly two :
In the case of Tilak Kumari & Anr. vs Sh. Anand the Delhi High Court had to determine the interim maintenance under section 18 and 20 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act.
The Court relied on the judgement of K Lalchandani vs Smt Meenu Lalchandani as follows:
This court held that wife and children have to Read More
The Supreme Court held that a minor child so long as he is minor can claim maintenance from his or her father or mother. Under this Section it is as much the obligation of the father to maintain a minor child as that of the mother. It is not the law that however affluent mother Read More
The Supreme Court in the case of Smt. Jasbir Kaur Sehgal vs The District Judge Dehradun & Ors, faced the issue of fixation of maintenance.
Th Supreme Court held that :
The wife is aggrieved only because of the paltry amount of maintenance fixed by the court. No set formula can be laid for fixing the amount Read More
In the case of Dr. E. Shanthi vs Dr. H.K. Vasudev, the respondent husband had filed for divorce. the petitioner wife had filed an application under section 24 of the hindu marriage act for interim maintenance of Rs 5000 per month and litigation expenses of 50,000/.
The above application under section 24 was dismissed by the Read More
The quantum of maintenance awarded to the wife who is working was reduced as it was an admitted fact that the husband was also paying a maintenance amount to his mother which equaled around Rs. 5000 and the wife was a working woman. The maintenance amount was reduced from 6000 to 5000 per month.
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The issue before the Bombay High Court was whether the interim maintenance granted to the wife and the sons were reasonable and if they were excessive. In the following case the petitioner submitted the tax returns of the last 3 years for the determination of the above issue.
However the court held that it would be Read More
Rohtash Singh vs Smt. Ramendri And Ors on 2 March, 2000 : Special Leave Petition (crl.) 2763 of 1999
This Judgement by the Supreme Court revolves around the issue which is whether a wife against whom a decree for divorce has been passed on account of her deserting the husband can claim Maintenance Allowance under Section Read More
Manokaran @ Ramamoorthy vs M. Devaki on 21 February, 2003
Wherein a wife was earning more than her husband who was himself earning merely Rs. 2000 per month, the Family Court Madras had passed an order wherein the said man was meant to pay Rs. 750 to his wife as interim maintenance.
Aggrieved by the said order, Read More
Dipti Mohanty @ Kanungo & Another vs Surya Prakash Mohanty on 12 September, 2014
Wherein the wife had left the company of her husband and he had gotten a decree for restitution of conjugal rights, the wife’s own maintenance application was rejected by the Cuttack Family Court . It is the contention of the husband (the Read More
The Delhi High Court has held that “Family‟, being the natural and fundamental unit of society, is entitled to protection of its integrity against arbitrary interference by the State.”
Hence when a Pakistani woman was residing in India on a long term visa, a notice was served on her to leave India within 15 days from Read More
In this particular judgement, the Punjab and Haryana High Court tackled two questions of importance:
Answering this particular question, the court was of the opinion Read More
Dr. A. Jairam vs Dr. A. Suman on 9 May, 2005
In this particular judgement, the Rajasthan High Court dismissed the appeal of a husband who claimed that he was not entitled to pay maintenance to his two minor sons as his wife was working as a government employee and was earning over Rs. 25,000 p.m. Read More
The Allahabad High Court has held that forcible sex, unnatural sex, sodomy caused against the wishes of the wife, and which degrades the dignity of the wife is not only a criminal offence but a good ground for dissolution of marriage under section 13 of the Hindu marriage Act.
The above judgement is in conformity with Read More
The term economic abuse falls under the purview of domestic violence as provided in section 3 of the Domestic Violence Act. In the case decided by the Bombay High Court of Sapna Patel vs Ishwarbhai Patel and others, the Court upheld the decision of the first class magistrate.
In the following case, the deceased husband earned Read More
In the case of Ajay kumar vs Lata Sharuti, the husband and the brother in law were engaged in a business where they held ancestral joint hindu property and carried on the business of Kiryana store. The wife and the husband resided in the same house on the ground floor.
On the death of the husband, Read More
The Supreme Court in the case of Accused X vs the State of Maharashtra held that post conviction illness is a good ground and a mitigating factor to commute death sentence to life imprisonment. . In the above case, the mitigating factor was determined after the conviction.
In the following case, X had mercilessly raped and Read More
Whether filing false affidavit, document or statement on oath falls under the purview of contempt of court ?
Section 2(a) of the Contempt of Court Act defines contempt as criminal contempt and civil contempt.
The filing of false affidavits, forged documents and false statement on oaths falls under criminal contempt of court. Such admissions obstructs, impedes and Read More
Requirements to extend remand beyond 90 days explained by the Supreme Court :
The Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) provides that an accused can be kept in remand for a period of 90 days. However, a proviso to this under 43(D) 2b of the UAPA provides that such remand can be extended beyond 90 days if Read More
The Himachal Pradesh high court quashed the FIR lodged against actor Jeetendra, who was alleged to have sexually assaulted his cousin. The incident was alleged to have taken place in 1971 and the FIR was filed after 47 years. This FIR was quashed on the grounds of:
a. Inordinate delay to file FIR : Section 468 Read More
In another such landmark judgement, the Uttrakhand HC has been of the opinion that a wife separating her husband from his mother would amount to cruelty.
Justice Dhulia and Justice Khulbe opined that:
“In normal circumstances, the wife is expected to be with the family of the husband after marriage because she becomes an integral a part Read More
The Supreme Court has ordered CMM, Kolkata to modify their orders in granting bail without registered surety. Bail was granted to one Wasim on the production of registered surety. Wasim claimed that he was a resident of Nagpur and thus cannot produce registered surety and his mother is critically ill and he needs to be Read More
The Supreme Court, asked the Patna High Court, to give reasons to support their conclusion at reaching a judgement of approval or rejection of an appeal. After an appeal and noticing that the High Court had not given any conclusion to the decision that they arrived at, the Supreme Court under s.482 CrpC said:
“Time and Read More
Delhi High Court, has waived off the cooling off period of a woman who wanted to get re-married to an NRI who was only in India for a limited period.
The Delhi High Court judge opined that the 1 year of seperation necessary before filing the first motion of divorce, plus the six months of the Read More
The Supreme Court recently enhanced the interim maintenance order of a woman who is educated from 9,000 to 25,000 INR. The High Court had rejected the woman’s plea to enhance the order of maintenance to deal with her day to day expenses on the grounds that the woman was well-educated and she was capable of Read More
I now pronounce you divorced is a short real life divorce stories which were handled by Siddhartha Shah, Senior Counsel specializing in divorce matters. The book will give you insights on the workings of family law and a sensible and balanced insight on divorces through the eyes of someone who sees clients coming to him Read More
Is a marriage valid in Hindu culture without the happening of the saat pheras also known as Saptapadi around the sacred fire.
In the case of S. Nagalingam vs Shivagami, 2001 7 SCC 487, the court observed that the marriages without the saat pheras are also valid and marriages performed as per rituals of the parties Read More
Prominent Lawyer Siddhartha Shah is featured in Consultants Review Magazine. Click below to view his story.
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Supreme Court states that relying on the counsellor reports for deciding the custody and parental privileges would not be breaking confidentiality and it would actually be assisting the courts in arriving at a decision “which is in the best interest of the child” as that is the legal measure to be used in determining custody.The Read More
Chattisgarh High Court held that mere refusal to marry is not an instigation under section 306 of the Indian Penal Code. If that was the case, then the court would be full of hundreds of litigants.
In order for section 306 to apply, it is important to prove that the accused actually instigated the victim to Read More
Bombay High Court in a recent judgement allowed for a woman living in US who had named her father as her POA holder to give consent via skype and allowed her to make her statements/give consent/recording of the consent terms via skype.
Her petition under 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act was rejected by the family Read More
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In a supreme Court judgement, it was held that a policeman cannot issue notice to the accused as that would be widening the scope of section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. If the Policeman was allowed to issue notice, it would be providing the cop with more power than that of the Magistrate Read More
Wherein the physical custody of the child was with the grandparents, who are not the legal guardians of the child, the father of said child filed a habeaus corpus writ. The High Court, in accordance to that, was of the opinion that the child was being detained by people who are not his legal guardian Read More
The Supreme Court held that the prosecution not having a certificate u/s. 65 B for the admissibility of a video recording at the stage of registering the charge sheet would not harm their case and nor deny them the right to admit said video into the recording as the said certificate is required at the Read More
Divorce is a new and unexpected milestone in a lot of young metropolitan adult lives. No-one plans for it and yet the divorce rates are fast rising. Even the number of judges have been increased and special family courts have been created to deal with the fast rising divorce rates.
Unlike the western world wherein the Read More
Bombay High Court in a full bench judgement has held that a Hindu can remarry after 90 days of being granted a divorce provided that there is no appeal pending against such order. The question that came before the Bombay High Court was one of interpretation of law wherein Family Courts Act, 1984 provides a Read More
The Supreme Court, citing various other judgments was very clear that ‘forum shopping’ when it comes to anticipatory bail applications is not allowed and if a successive bail application is filed, it ought to be filed before the same judge.
The Supreme Court set aside the bail application granted by the High Court and was of Read More
Supreme Court, while dismissing a high court order, was of the view that corroborative evidence is required even in the case of dying declarations when the deceased’s state of mind is in question.
Wherein a woman had suffered 98% burns on her body and had made a dying declaration holding her husband and mother-in-law responsible, the Read More
In a Delhi High Court Judgement, wherein a father contested whether he needs to pay maintenance towards the child if the wife is earning sufficiently well, the Delhi High Court contended that:
It is a settled principle of law that both the parents have a legal, moral and social duty to provide to their Read More
Law is ever changing and it constantly adopts itself to the needs of the society. What is illegitimate now may be legitimate later. Law is forever acclimatizing to the changing culture of todays society. Practices such as sati and untouchability were both prevalent at one point in India and were later repealed by a statute Read More
The Supreme Court, in a judgement by His Lordship Judge Banumathi, told a couple going through a mutual consent divorce who had arrived at certain consent terms through mediation, to follow up and comply with the consent terms arrived at in mediation or else, they would be held in contempt of court.
Justice Banumathi held that:
“In Read More
The Bombay High Court in a surprising judgement declared that a marriage performed with a minor girl who was 14 years of age at the time of the marriage is valid after the said girl has attained majority as she herself is willing to cohabit with the Petitioner. The High Court even stayed the proceedings Read More
Wherein the husband is trying to hide his salary, the court is of the opinion that the court can estimate the salary of the husband in order to award maintenance to the wife. In this case, the court looked at the able bodied man who was an ex-serviceman and estimated that even if he was Read More
Making an astonishingly logically sound argument albeit not sounding sexist, the Delhi High Court has held that parents are not ‘equally’ responsible for a child’s expenses. In a case wherein the mother was granted custody of the child,the court held that the mother spends a lot of time with the child in his upbringing and Read More
Wherein consent terms were arrived at by both parties and the mother gave up her right to maintenance, stridhan, and alimony, the Supreme Court had no issues. However, finding fault with the mother giving up her child’s maintenance in consent terms, the Supreme Court opined that a mother does not have the right to give Read More
Every novice in law is taught Contracts Act from the very beginning and it is very clear that in the Contracts Act, in order for an agreement to be valid, there ought to be a valid contract and there ought to be the following :
Supreme Court recently adjudicated that it is not necessary for the prosecution in a case where there is circumstantial evidence present about the guilt of a police officer, there is no need for establishment of motive for the same.
While the presence of motive would be helpful the court was of the opinion that the lack Read More
Punjab and Haryana High Court have held that confessions made before a Executive Magistrate in the presence of the police are to be held admissible as per section 26 of the Indian Evidence Act.
Section 26 of the Indian Evidence Act reads hereunder:
26. Confession by accused while in custody of police not to be proved against Read More
Justice H. S Madaan, Punjab High Court concluded that the imprisonment of a man for non payment of maintenance is only a means to an end and imprisonment does not discharge his duty to pay the maintenance amount.
It was observed: Sentencing a person to jail is a ‘mode of enforcement’. It is not a ‘mode Read More
High Court urges Family Courts to not close the right to file written statement, or to lead evidence or to close cross examination in haste.
The Delhi High Court has especially urged Family Courts in matrimonial matters to separate the chaff from the grain as a lot of these matters are hyped up and the Courts Read More
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In this Bombay High Court judgement, Justice M.G Giratkar adjudicated that a government given pension can be attached to recover maintenance amount and it does not violate s. 11 of the Pensions Act which states that the pension cannot be attached in civil disputes at the instance of creditors. Justice M.G Read More
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The Supreme Court has declared that for an offense to attract the provisions of Section 504 & 506 of the IPC, it should be to such a high degree that it should cause a person who has been insulted to disrupt public peace. Wherein a man was insulted in his Read More
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Justice Kurian Joesph, Kerala High Court in a new judgment has allowed for the filing of a divorce petition via a power of attorney holder.
Bombay High Court, in this judgement narrowed down the purview and scope of the Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence Act. Only partners in a ‘domestic relationship’ can seek protection under this Act.
A lot of questions come to divorce lawyers about the waiving off of the six month waiting period in a mutual consent divorce.
These are the following circumstances in which the six month waiting period can be waived off:
Hon’ble Justice Swaminathan, Madras High Court, adjudicated in this particular judgement that Transwomen would be considered a bride under the definition of ‘bride’ in the Hindu Marriage Act. This was a revolutionary judgement widening the definition and scope of a bride under this Act thereby granting a Read More
Did you know that marriages have certain customs and ceremonies and without the completion of all of the ceremonies, a marriage is not even considered a legal marriage? Imagine a scenario wherein you and your partner are living happily for many years and suddenly he deserts you and marries someone else. Imagine being left Read More
