The Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010
.
Grounds so far on which
divorce was applicable:
--Cruelty, mental disorder, conversion, desertion and
mutual consent
Details of the Bill:
· -- Seeks to amend parts of the Hindu Marriage Act and the Special Marriage
Act
· -- Irretrievable
Breakdown new ground for divorce which means ‘The
situation that exists when either or both spouses no longer are able or willing
to live with each other, thereby destroying their Husband and Wife relationship with no hope of resumption of spousal duties’. In this ‘no-fault’ clause,
either spouse can -seek a divorce after three years of separation without having
to prove the failure of the marriage in court.
· -- legally
recognize a wife's right to property acquired by her spouse during their
marriage but the quantum of share will be decided by courts on a case by case basis.
· -- give rights to adopted
children at par with biological off-springs in case the parents go for a divorce.
· -- proposed waiver of the cooling period of six months i.e earlier to
seek divorce by mutual consent, couples can file a case only after a year of
separation, followed by a six-month cooling off time.
Controversy
over the Bill:
· -- women’s rights
activists believe that the proposed amendments are still not strong enough to
guarantee the rights of women.
· --‘Irretrievable breakdown of marriage’, they feel, is a
Western concept being imported without understanding the socially disadvantaged
contexts of Indian women and will largely favour man.
· --believed the
move would allow Indian men to end marriages easily, leaving non-working women
with just a meagre maintenance or alimony.
· --applicable
only to Hindus and those who marry under the secular Special Marriage Act,
leave out minority communities.
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