Hindu Marriage Act is a home-breaker: SC

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/hindu-marriage-act-is-a-homebreaker-sc/67313-3.html

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed concern over the increasing number of divorce cases and also blamed the Hindu Marriage Act, saying it had harmed the family system than strengthening it.
“The Hindu Marriage Act has broken more homes than uniting," a vacation bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and G S Singhvi observed.
The apex court regretted that the growing number of divorce cases was having a disastrous effect on the children of families broken up in such a manner.
Enacted in 1955, the Hindu Marriage Act, had undergone several amendments till 2003. It contains various provisions for validity of a Hindu marriage.
"Even at the time of marriage, anticipatory divorce petitions are being filed," the bench remarked sarcastically.
The apex court made the observation while dealing with a petition filed by a divorcee seeking his child's custody.
“Ego should get dissolved for the sake of the child," the bench remarked even as the separated parents tried to air their views.
The apex court told the separated couple that it was more concerned about the welfare of the child, rather than the recrimination between the couple.
“Ultimately the child suffers. If it is a girl, the trauma is more, particularly at the time of the marriage of such children," Justice Pasayat, speaking for the bench observed.

Why men's rights activists won't mourn Justice Verma's death

Why men's rights activists won't mourn Justice Verma's death
http://www.merinews.com/article/why-mens-rights-activists-wont-mourn-justice-vermas-death/15884515.shtml

Justice JS Verma, who finished the marathon task of refurbishing the anti-rape laws in the country in a record 29 days, after the brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old paramedical student on a moving bus in the national capital, passed away Monday night after suffering from liver failure and abdominal problems.

Justice Verma who was India's 27th chief justice and served from 1997 to 1998, was head of the government-appointed panel that was tasked with recommending legal reforms and other ways to reduce sexual violence against women.

The panel's report that was submitted to the government in January, paved the way for tough new-anti-rape laws, recommending stringent punishment for rapists. Expressing grief over the demise of Justice Verma, the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in his official statement said, “Justice Verma was a man of vast understanding and knowledge of Law. He was respected for his path breaking judgments, his deep sensitivity to the concerns of the common man and commitment to public good. I will miss him very much for his generous advice and guidance on matters of public importance.”
Chief of Press Council of India and former High Court judge Markandey Katju while expressing his condolence over the death of justice Verma, hailed the marathon task he finished by preparing the report on laws dealing with the crimes against women.
“Justice J.S. Verma was one of the giants of the Indian Judiciary, who set very high standards of integrity on the bench & even thereafter. His completion of the report on crimes against women in 29 days is a model as to how such reports should be made. In his sad demise the entire legal fraternity as well as the country has suffered a great loss,” Katju said.
No doubt justice Verma will be remembered in the country every time violence takes place against any woman. However, the men's right activists have quite an opposite take on Justice Verma, as they accuse him of ignoring their suggestions in the report he prepared for the sake of women safety.
Men's rights activist, Virag Dhulia, Head, Gender Studies, Confidare Research; and an active member of Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF) is not happy with the outcome of the final report compiled by the panel led by justice Verma, and calls it “biased against male fraternity.”
“Justice Verma has done grave injustice to men by making highly anti-male recommendations in his report. We sent him a representation but it was thoroughly ignored, and he said that Indian women don't lie so we don't need misuse clause whereas scores of false cases are getting registered every year and millions of innocent men are suffering, committing suicides due to false allegations and no justice,” Dhulia told this citizen journalist .
Dhulia added that justice Verma failed to show any compassion for the men's rights. “Justice Verma had shown no compassion for men. He just behaved like a feminist puppet and blabbered whatever the male haters wanted him to blabber,” Dhulia said.

India TV Sting Operation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CVErg0FwWZ4 

High court alert on 498A 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130126/jsp/calcutta/story_16485664.jsp#.UXbPAsqnaKF 

The high court on Thursday observed that some women were abusing IPC Section 498A to harass those the clause aims to protect them from — husbands and in-laws.

Justice K.S. Ahluwalia made the observation while quashing criminal charges against Mita Bhaduri and her husband Tapan, who were fearing arrest in connection with a case under section 498A (cruelty by husband or relatives of husband) lodged by her sister-in-law Maumita Maitra.

“The proceedings against the petitioners (Mita and Tapan) will be an abuse of the process of law. The FIR, along with all proceedings against the petitioners, is quashed,” Justice Ahluwalia said in his three-page order.

Quoting a Supreme Court ruling, Justice Ahluwalia said: “The ultimate object of justice is to find out the truth and punish the guilty and protect the innocent. The tendency of implicating all immediate relations is also not uncommon. The courts have to be extremely careful and cautious while dealing with these complaints and must take pragmatic matrimonial cases.”

Legal experts in the city welcomed Justice Ahluwalia’s view, which they said had highlighted the tendency of a section of women and their family members to misuse article 498A and lodge false complaints against in-laws.

“If a woman lodges a complaint of torture against her husband or any of her in-laws within seven years of marriage, police will have to arrest the accused first. No investigation is needed to arrest the accused or family members. Many women misuse the law to falsely implicate their husbands and in-laws,” said lawyer and former mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya.

Maumita, a resident of Khardah, on the northern fringes of the city, had married Atanu in December 2002. The couple, who had been living at Atanu’s house in Sodepur, have two daughters — Arunima, 7, and Archisha, 5.

In December 2012, Maumita had lodged a complaint of torture against her husband, sister-in-law Mita and her husband Tapan.

Mita and Tapan — the couple got married in 1983 — live at Sinthee, around 12km from Atanu’s house. They moved a petition in the high court, seeking quashing of the proceedings against them.

The couple’s lawyer Debabrata Chatterjee submitted: “Maumita had complained that she had been regularly subjected to mental and physical torture by my clients. Is it possible? Mita and her husband have their own family. Why will they go to Sodepur regularly and torture Maumita?”

The judge observed: “It’s a fact that Mita and Tapan lived far way from the complainant’s house. The sister, who got married 19 years before her brother’s wedding, had nothing to do with the brother’s matrimonial affairs.”