#dnaEdit: Restoring balance

A slew of reforms proposed by a panel to the woman and child development ministry, if implemented, can radically improve the status of women and give them more rights in family laws. It could also be the first step towards a uniform civil code because the panel’s recommendations cover all the three major communities — Hindu, Muslim and Christian.

Archaic and deeply entrenched in a patriarchal system, most of these laws are loaded in favour of men when it comes to divorce, custody of children, maintenance and succession rights. The existing framework also has little to offer to “illegitimate” kids who are deprived of the rights and privileges enjoyed by the legal offspring. The committee headed by former Panjab University professor Pam Rajput — originally set up during the UPA regime — has now come up with a template of sweeping changes to correct several long-standing inequalities.

For instance, Rajput’s team advocates a complete ban on triple talaaq — an oral and unilateral practice among Muslim men opting for divorce — and polygamy, both of which derive legitimacy from the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937. It also recommends reducing the mandatory two years of separation for obtaining divorce — as per the Christian personal law — to one year.

In matters pertaining to the custody of a child, it says that all relevant laws should be amended to also include the mother as a natural guardian. The Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act of 1956 declares the father as the natural guardian and solely empowers him to take decisions for a minor’s well-being. The committee has also recommended amending Section 16 of the Hindu Marriage Act so that “illegitimate” children born outside wedlock, and those from void and voidable marriages are treated at par with legitimate kids. This means that regardless of the parents’ marital status, a child will enjoy succession and other rights. Furthermore, it wants the word “illegitimate” to be removed from the statutes.

The panel’s proposal that Sections 15 and 16 of the Hindu Succession Act be amended is a genuine attempt at restoring gender equality regarding devolution of property. It seeks to give succession rights over a woman’s property to her parents or her parents’ heirs/siblings if her husband and children are not around. As of now, these rights are enjoyed by the husband’s relatives. The panel also proffers that a woman in live-in relationship be accorded equal status with a lawfully wedded woman.

However, its advice on maintenance issues after separation might be highly contested. It insists on doing away with a provision that allows a woman’s maintenance to be stopped if she has been unchaste or has declined to live with the husband. This could raise the hackles of those who believe that the law conveniently overlooks the wife’s cruelty to her husband — that the man too can be a victim of an abusive marriage.

The panel’s progressive outlook is in sync with the times, especially since there has been a visible change in society’s outlook towards women. That it emphasises the need for a separate law to tackle honour killings shows that regressive, patriarchal notions cannot be allowed to fester. Any custom or tradition that suppresses a woman’s rights and privileges must be rooted out since it goes against the very spirit of equality and justice. A uniform civil  code is the need of the hour.