To convict for the offence punishable under Section 304B, the following essentials must be satisfied: (i) The death of a woman must have been caused by burns or bodily injury or otherwise than under normal circumstances; “Section 304B IPC does not categorize death as homicidal or suicidal or accidental. This is because death caused by […]
Read more "Landmark Judgment on Dowry Deaths"Anuradha v. Mohandas, [Transfer Petition 702 of 2015] The Petitioner got married to the Respondent in 2010. The Petitioner was a divorcee. It was a love marriage. In 2015, the Respondent filed for a decree of divorce before The Family Court, Bombay. The Petitioner moved an application before the SC for a transfer of that divorce case […]
Read more "Mohandas Must Pay"My Lord, Family Arrangements? “Paragraph 9 of Kale v. Deputy Director of Consolidation, (1976) 3 SCC 119 deserves full respect.” – Hon’ble Justice Shiva Kirti Singh, Rajni Sanghi v. Western India State Motors, [Civil Appeal No. 3698 of 2006]. _____________ For Interest, Paragraph 9 of Kale v. Deputy Director of Consolidation, (1976) 3 SCC 119 [By virtue […]
Read more "Family Arrangements"My Lord, Decree for Divorce v. Decree for Judicial Separation? “A 3-Judge Bench in Jeet Singh, (1993) 1 SCC 325 ruled that, a Decree or an Order for Judicial Separation permits the Parties to live apart. There would be no obligation for either Party to cohabit with the other; mutual rights and obligations arising out […]
Read more "Divorce v. Judicial Separation"“It may be recalled that owing to curial fiat, it is no longer necessary to state the name of the father in applications seeking admission of children to school, as well as for obtaining a passport for a minor child. However, in both these cases, it may still remain necessary to furnish a birth certificate. […]
Read more "Birth Certificates"“If a spouse abuses the other as being born from a prostitute, this cannot be termed as ‘wear and tear’ of family life. Summoning the police on false or flimsy grounds cannot also be similarly viewed. Making it impossible for any close relatives to visit or reside in the matrimonial home would also indubitably result […]
Read more "Monsters-in-Law I"The Yajnavalkya Smriti classifies concubines into two types: (1) Avaruddha and (2) Bhujasya. An Avaruddha Stree operates under an injunction to stay at the master’s home whereas a Bhujasya is not kept in the house but elsewhere. There is some protection for an Avaruddha Stree in modern India. There is a presumption in favor of […]
Read more "Masterly Concubinage I"“Case to Case Basis” is the grandest excuse of an ordinary Judge. In Ramkanya Bai v. Bharatram, (2010) 1 SCC 85 Hon’ble Justice Tarun Chatterjee rejected the application for a DNA test to be performed on the child of the Appellant-Wife. One fact that validated that rejection was the Respondent-Husband had made the paternity of […]
Read more "DNA Tests: The Divide Between Science and Morality"In Surya Vadanan v. State of Tamil Nadu, [Criminal Appeal No. 395 of 2015] the custody of two minor girls, both British citizens, was in question. Following intense matrimonial discords, the mother had left U.K. and had come to India with her two daughters. She also instituted a proceeding in the Family Court at Coimbatore […]
Read more "The “First Strike” in Child Custody Battles I"After referring to the Black’s Law Dictionary; The Guardians & Wards Act, 1890; The Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956; The Tamil Nadu Elementary Education Act, 1994 & The Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection) Act, 2000. “Guardianship postulates control over both the person as well as the assets of a minor or of one and […]
Read more "The Guardian"Section 13(1)(iii) of The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 does not make the mere existence of a mental-disorder, of any degree, sufficient in law to justify the dissolution of a marriage. Its degree must be such as that the spouse seeking relief cannot reasonably be expected to live with the other. The same must be proved […]
Read more "Schizophrenia"A person may have no home but he cannot be without a domicile. In order to make the rule effective the law assigns a domicile of origin to every person at birth. This prevails until a new domicile has been acquired – the domicile of choice [Central Bank of India v. Ram Narain, AIR 1955 SC 36]. The only […]
Read more "Domiciles and The Hindu Marriage Act"