Judgement
Recently in Satish Chander Ahuja Versus Sneha Ahuja, a three-judge Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and M R Shah overruled a 2006 judgement of the court and said “In event, the shared household belongs to any relative of the husband with whom in a domestic relationship the woman has lived, the conditions mentioned in Section 2(s) (of The Protection of Women From Domestic Violence Act, 2005) are satisfied and the said house. will become a shared household”. “The domestic violence in this country is rampant and several women encounter violence in some form or the other or almost every day, however, it is the least reported form of cruel behavior. A woman resigns her fate to the never ending cycle of enduring violence and discrimination as a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a partner or a single woman in her lifetime. This non-retaliation by women coupled with the absence of laws addressing women’s issues, ignorance of the existing laws enacted for women and societal attitude makes the women vulnerable. The reason why most cases of domestic violence are never reported is due to the social stigma of the society and the attitude of the women themselves, where women are expected to be subservient, not just to their male counterparts but also to the male’s relatives”, the court said.
In its 2006 judgement in the case S.R. Batra Vs. Taruna Batra, a two-judge Bench of the court had disallowed the woman involved from claiming any right to live in the said house since it belonged to mother-in-law of the respondent and did not belong to her husband. But this judgement overruled the decision passed in S.R. Batra case.
Facts of the case
The Appellant, Satich Chander Ahuja purchased a house in New Friends Colony, at Delhi. His son was married to the Respondent, Sneha Ahuja in the year 1995. After marriage the respondent started living on the first floor of the house purchased by the Appellant and also started a separate kitchen in the year 2004. Due to marital discord the son of the Appellant moved out of the first floor in the year 2014 and started staying in the guest room of the ground floor and filed a divorce petition. After the filing of divorce petition by her husband, the respondent filed a domestic violence complaint under section 12 of the Act in which she got interim relief not be alienated from the property. Satish Chander Ahuja filed a suit against his daughter in law for permanent injunction. The Trial court allowed his application but The High Court set aside the Trial court judgement. Satish Chander Ahuja then filed his appeal before The Supreme Court against the order of High Court
Summary
A woman leaves her parent’s house after marriage, with the change of surname as per a normal wedlock, and adapts herself in the new environment amidst new faces. After much efforts and chances by the memebrs of her new family she is kicked out of her matrimonial house, only for her life to shatter. A woman who was trying to please her in-laws and husband to maintain the harmony of the household, was simply expecting security in terms of house and love which is what any humane person would expect. Even then she is left with no other choice but to go back to her parent’s house. Now her life is back to square one with some add-ons such as – fight for justice, which is to be able to live in her matrimonial house, a right she was awarded with during the time of the marriage. I have seen many instances where despite being a co-owner of the house, with the name displayed on share certificate, women are thrown out of the house with instant changing of the locks to completely handicap the women off entering her own lawful house. I am avoiding the topic of bringing children into this as it will just add agony in this bleak discussion. But thanks to Indian judiciary who has given legal rights to women to fight against such injustice. A major right is that a woman can file a domestic violence case at a place where she resides tor takes shelter. But still we see number of unreported incidents and helplessness of a woman. However, appreciating the legal rights imposed over the society by the Indian Judiciary, it is safe to remain hopeful in testing times.
Vishhal Saxxenaa