{"id":35651,"date":"2025-01-17T18:35:50","date_gmt":"2025-01-17T13:05:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=35651"},"modified":"2025-01-17T18:36:51","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T13:06:51","slug":"sc-on-conjugal-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/17-01-2025\/sc-on-conjugal-rights","title":{"rendered":"SC on Conjugal Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/ Polity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Supreme Court has clarified that proceedings related to restitution of <strong>conjugal rights (Section 9, Hindu Marriage Act) <\/strong>and <strong>maintenance (Section 125, CrPC)<\/strong> are independent and not interlinked.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A husband is obligated to pay maintenance to his wife even if she refuses to comply with a court\u2019s decree for restitution of conjugal rights.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What are Conjugal Rights?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Conjugal rights are legal rights that arise from marriage, entitling spouses to live together and enjoy the companionship and society of each other.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>These rights are recognized and enforced by both personal laws and criminal law provisions related to maintenance and alimony.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Restitution of Conjugal Rights<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A legal remedy allowing an aggrieved spouse to seek a court decree directing the other spouse to resume cohabitation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The objective is to prevent the breakdown of marriages by encouraging reconciliation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Legal Recognition of Conjugal Rights<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Conjugal rights are codified in personal laws that govern marriage and family relations:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Hindu Marriage Act, 1955:<\/strong> Section 9 allows a spouse to petition the court for restitution of conjugal rights if the other spouse withdraws from their society without reasonable excuse.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Muslim Personal Law:<\/strong> Recognizes conjugal rights and allows petitions for restitution.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Christian Law (Divorce Act, 1869): <\/strong>Provides similar provisions for Christian marriages.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973:<\/strong> Requires payment of maintenance to a spouse who is unable to support themselves, ensuring financial security even when conjugal rights are not being fulfilled.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Judicial Interpretations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>T. Sareetha v. T. Venkata Subbaiah (1983):<\/strong> The Andhra Pradesh High Court struck down Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act, terming it unconstitutional and violative of individual freedom.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Saroj Rani v. Sudarshan Kumar Chadha (1984):<\/strong> The Supreme Court overturned the Andhra Pradesh HC decision, holding that the provision serves a social purpose by helping prevent marital discord.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Criticism and Challenges<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Violation of Privacy:<\/strong> Critics argue that compelling cohabitation infringes upon the right to privacy and bodily autonomy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Potential for Misuse: <\/strong>The provision may be used to coerce estranged spouses, particularly women, into returning to potentially abusive relationships.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Patriarchal Roots: <\/strong>Some view it as a remnant of patriarchal norms that treat spouses (especially women) as the property of their partners.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Source: TH<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Supreme Court has clarified that proceedings related to restitution of conjugal rights (Section 9, Hindu Marriage Act) and maintenance (Section 125, CrPC) are independent and not interlinked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35651"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35663,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35651\/revisions\/35663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}