The Supreme Court on Wednesday criticised a Bombay high court order that used phrases like “illegitimate wife” and “faithful mistress” to describe a woman, saying the remarks were “misogynistic”. The bench also called the remarks a violation of the woman’s fundamental rights.
Taking note of the “objectionable language” used by the Bombay high court, a bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Augustine George Masih observed that the use of such words was against the ethos and ideals of the Constitution.
“Unfortunately, the Bombay high court went to the extent of using the words ‘illegitimate wife’. Shockingly, in paragraph 24, the high court described such a wife as a ‘faithful mistress’,” it added.
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The Supreme Court said calling the woman, who was in a marriage that was declared void, “illegitimate wife” was “very inappropriate” and affected her dignity.
The apex court said the high court hadn’t used such adjectives for husbands with void marriages, PTI reported.
The bench said the use of the phrases amounted to a violation of the fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
“Calling a woman an ‘illegitimate wife’ or ‘faithful mistress’ will amount to a violation of the fundamental rights of that woman under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Describing a woman by using these words is against the ethos and ideals of our Constitution,” it added.
The court said no one could use such adjectives while referring to a woman who was a party to a void marriage.
What was the matter?
The Supreme Court was hearing a reference in a matter over conflicting views on the applicability of Sections 24 and 25 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, reported PTI.
While Section 24 of the Act deals with maintenance pendente lite (pending the suit) and expenses of proceedings, Section 25 relates to permanent alimony and maintenance.
“A spouse whose marriage has been declared void under Section 11 of the 1955 Act is entitled to seek permanent alimony or maintenance from the other spouse by invoking section 25 of the 1955 Act,” held the bench.
It said whether such a relief of permanent alimony could be granted or not would always depend on the facts of each case and the conduct of the parties.
“The grant of relief under Section 25 is always discretionary,” it added.
With inputs from PTI