Wife Entitled to Stridhan Even After Divorce
http://odishasamaya.com/news/national/wife-entitled-to-stridhan-even-after-divorce/65468
NEW DELHI: A female has inalienable rights over stridhan and she can assert it even after separation from her hubby, the Supreme Court has ruled, saying that rejecting it would total up to domestic violence making the other half and in-laws liable to face prosecution.
According to Hindu Law, stridhan is whatever a ladies gets throughout her lifetime consisting of all movable, unmovable building, presents etc received prior to marital relationship, at the time of marriage and throughout child birth.
A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C Pant quashed the order of a high court and Tripura High Court which had actually held that a woman can not claim her stridhan after separation from her husband and criminal procedures can not be started against spouse and in-laws for not handing over the buildings.
It pulled up the courts for dismissing the plea of a female on the ground that she lost the right over stridhan after judicial separation with spouse. The court stated that the Defense of Women from Domestic Violence Act was suggested to offer a reliable protection to a lady and the court should adopt sensitive method to such grievances.
The bench clarified that separation under court order is different from divorce and the couple continues to be as husband and wife, although living independently. It said under judicial separation a couple can keep their status as partner and partner till their lifetime and a better half is entitled to invoke the Act during that period if her rights are violated.
тАЬIt is fairly clear that there is a distinction in between a decree for divorce and decree of judicial separation; in the previous, there is a severance of status and the parties do not remain as husband and wife, whereas in the later on, the relationship in between couple continues and the legal relationship keeps as it has actually not been snapped,тАЭ the bench said.
тАЬThus the finding taped by the courts listed below which have actually been concurred by HC that the parties having actually been judicial separated, the better half has stopped to be an aggrieved individual is completely unsustainable,тАЭ it stated.
