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Madhya Pradesh enacts law to prescribe death penalty for rape of girls aged 12 years and below
The Madhya Pradesh legislature has passed an amendment to the Indian Penal Code to prescribe death sentence as the highest punishment for rape of girls aged 12 and below; becoming the first state where those convicted of such rapes will face the death penalty. The bill also seeks to increase the punishment for offenders convicted […]
Bill to criminalise instant triple talaq passed by Lok Sabha
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017, has been passed by the Lok Sabha. The primary objective of the bill is to criminalise the pronouncement of triple talaq, by prescribing a punishment of up to three years of imprisonment for the same. The bill also provides for custody and maintenance rights of […]
Kerala HC upholds woman’s ‘right to dignity’ as a mother
The Kerala High Court upheld the plea of a woman against her termination from service on account of her long absence from service as she needed to look after her child suffering from mild autism. The court held that no service regulations can stand in the way of a woman claiming protection of her fundamental […]
Delhi HC questions civic bodies about sensitization to menstrual hygiene
In a writ petition regarding the lack of access to information, knowledge, and education regarding menstruation and menstrual hygiene in Delhi, the Delhi High Court has made various directions to the district municipal corporations in Delhi for the implementation of the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK), so far as it relates to the sensitization of […]
Rajasthan HC issues directions on religious conversions, inter-faith marriages
The Rajasthan High Court held that in a case involving marriage performed after conversion, where the conversion is in contravention of the guidelines that govern it, the marriage may be declared voidable at the aggrieved party’s behest. The guidelines, laid down by the court to tackle ‘forced conversions,’ state that only an adult can undergo […]
Kerala HC upholds suspension of school students accused of public display of affection.
The Kerala High Court has upheld the suspension of a boy and girl student for their alleged public display of affection in the school and through social media. Although the state child rights panel had ordered the school to take the students back, this decision was struck down by the High Court on the ground […]
J &K High Court decries harassment of adult women who exercised their right to choice in marriage
The High Court recently addressed a petition wherein the petitioner had brought to the notice of the court the continual harassment that she and her husband were subjected to following their inter-caste marriage. She stated that despite having married after attaining the age of majority, out of her own free will without any undue coercion, […]
Inference of ‘false’ case cannot be drawn from mere acquittal of husband in domestic violence case, holds Chhattisgarh HC
In an appeal from a Family Court decision, in which divorce was granted to the husband on the ground that his wife had made false criminal allegations of domestic violence against him, and this amounted to cruelty, the Chhattisgarh High Court held that the husband was not entitled to a divorce. The court held that […]
Gujarat HC to examine the use of Sec. 377 by wives for marital rape
The Gujarat High Court is set to examine the question whether a wife can initiate prosecution against her husband for unnatural sex punishable under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. Terming marital rape as a ‘disgraceful offence’, the Gujarat High Court is set to examine the question whether a wife can initiate prosecution against […]
Pursing employment against a husband’s wishes does not amount to cruelty, holds Allahabad HC
In an appeal from a family court decision which had granted divorce to husband on the grounds that the wife had subjected him to cruelty by taking up gainful employment against his wishes, the Allahabad High Court has observed that a wife working against the wishes of a husband or his family is not ‘cruelty,’ […]