Categoies
High Courts and Tribunals
Kerala HC separates inter-religious married couple, rejects choice of woman to marry
The High Court of Kerala handed over the ‘custody’ of an adult woman of sound mind to her father, and nullified her marriage to a Muslim man. The father of the 24 year old woman had filed a writ petition to seek her custody, after she left her parent’s home and converted to Islam. The […]
Hindu law does not confer any property rights upon “illegitimate” children, holds Bombay High Court
The Bombay high court has ruled that an “illegitimate” child must provide evidence of marriage between her biological parents to claim protection conferred by Sec. 16 of the Hindu Marriage Act. In this case, the petitioners, children from the second ‘marriage’ of the deceased, sought a share in his property. However, the first wife of […]
Compassionate appointment cannot be denied on the ground of marriage of the daughter of the deceased
A cooperative bank refused to grant compassionate appointment to a woman on the ground that she was married at the time of her father’s death. This order of the Bank was challenged by the Petitioner as being violative of several fundamental rights, including the right to equality. Holding in favour of the Petitioner, the High […]
Eating food of choice, be it meat, is an aspect of the Right to Food
The Allahabad High Court has held that the right to choice of food falls within the fundamental right to food. This observation was made by the Court while granting relief to the petitioner, whose application for renewal of license for selling goat meat was not reviewed by the municipality. Criticising the lack of response to […]
Allahabad High Court holds Anti-Romeo Squads valid
Two separate public interest litigations sought intervention of the Allahabad High Court in restraining the Anti Romeo Squads of the UP government from ‘moral policing,’ in face of reports and videos showing an over-reach of powers in the way they targeted and humiliated young couples in public places. The first PIL was dismissed on the […]
Punjab and Haryana HC decrees that a husband cannot deny maintenance to wife on the basis that she earns more
In a case where a husband petitioned the High Court to reduce the maintenance he was required to pay his wife by a lower court, the grounds were that the wife was already earning more than him. The High Court however found that the wife was entitled to enjoy the same amenities of life as […]
‘Desertion’ cannot itself be a valid ground of divorce, ‘constructive desertion’ a better indicator, holds Delhi HC
In a case where the legality of a divorce decree was being scrutinized, the judges noted that desertion by itself was not enough reason to grant divorce because many times one spouse is forced to leave by the conduct of the other. The Delhi High Court set aside the decree of a lower court which […]
Retraction of the woman’s complaint insufficient ground for quashing rape allegations, holds Delhi HC
In a case where a woman prosecutrix had consistently alleged sexual assault by an employer in her statement to the police and the magistrate, the Delhi High Court chose to ascertain whether her statement was subsequently withdrawn under threat or pressure. The Court said that it would be unsafe to quash FIR proceedings on the […]
Kerala HC rules prohibition of women from working in liquor shops unconstitutional
Responding to a petition challenging the constitutional validity of provisions of the Kerala Abkari Shops Disposal Rules, 2002 which prohibit women from being employed in liquor shops, the Court ruled that such rules were violative of Article 14 and 15 of the Constitution. The petitioners had claimed that they had participated in the selection process […]
Gujarat HC grants girl’s custody to female friend given their desire to stay together
In a case where two girls approached the Gujarat High Court through a Habeas Corpus petition expressing their desire to live with each other, the judges granted one of the girls’ custody rights over her friend. The Muslim girl from Ahmedabad alleged being sexual harassed and intimidated by her family, after which she had moved […]