AMENDMENT IN HINDU
MARRIAGE ACT
The Government has planned to amend
Section 19 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 to enable woman in
distress, especially divorced, deserted and estranged wife to
file suits for maintenance or relief of any kind at a place of
her residence. This is intended to bring Section 19 of the Hindu
Marriage Act, 1955 in conformity with Section 126 of the Code
of Criminal Procedure, 1973. This will enhance the human rights
of women in distress besides conveniencing them to file suits
for maintenance in the courts of the districts they reside.
At present, woman in distress or divorced woman
or deserted woman has to file suit for compensation or maintenance
in the court of the district where her former husband resides,
resulting in a lot of inconveniences to the woman.
The proposal has been circulated to State Governments,
whose response is awaited. The matter comes under the Concurrent
List of the Constitution, wherein both the Centre and the States
can exercise jurisdiction concurrently or independently.
The proposal for amendment in the Hindu Marriage
Act, 1955 follows recommendations of the Law Commission of India
contained in its 178th Report and that of the National
Commission for Women in its Annual Report 1999-2000.
The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, the Special Marriage
Act, 1954, the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936 and the Code
of Criminal Procedure, 1973 have been amended recently to make
it mandatory for the courts to grant interim relief to women in
distress within 60 days from the serving of notices to the parties
in divorce suits for maintenance to self, child(ren) and aged
parents. These effected through the Marriage Laws (Amendment)
Act, 2001 have been acclaimed widely by women’s organisations
as a milestone in personal laws reforms insofar as it provides
social security to women in distress.
