A PIL has been submitted to the Supreme Court seeking “gender and religion-neutral” uniform maintenance and support reasons for all citizens that conform to the spirit of the constitution and international conventions.
The plea in law, tabled by BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, calls on the Union’s ministries of interior and justice to take appropriate action to remedy the prevailing anomalies of alimony and support for all citizens without discrimination on grounds of religion unify race, occupation, gender or place of birth.
The petition, filed by attorney Ashwani Kumar Dubey, states that despite the eloquent provisions in the constitution, the central government has not even created gender-neutral, religiously neutral uniform maintenance and support grounds for all citizens.
Alimony and support are the only source of livelihood, so discrimination based on religion, race, caste, gender, or place of birth is a direct attack on the right to life, liberty and dignity guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
“Even after 73 years of independence and 70 years of India as a socialist secular democratic republic, laws relating to alimony and support are not only complex and cumbersome, but also go against the constitutional mandate to be equal, rational and fair,” it said.
“Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains are subject to the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 and the Hindu Adoption & Maintenance Act of 1956. Muslims are treated under the status of a valid marriage and marriage agreement and are subject to the Muslim Women Act of 1986. Christians are subject to the Indian Divorce Act of 1869 and Parsis under the Parsi Marriage & Divorce Act of 1936, but none of these laws are gender neutral, “it said.
The PIL stated that discriminatory maintenance and support reinforce patriarchal and stereotypical ideas about women and therefore any provision that commits or reinforces discriminatory stereotypes against women is manifestly arbitrary.
The plea sought instructions to explain that the discriminatory maintenance grounds violated Articles 14, 15, 21 of the Constitution.
She has also asked the Legal Commission for instructions to examine national and international law and to prepare a report on “uniform maintenance reasons” within three months.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been revised by Business Standard staff. The rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always endeavored to provide updated information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have far-reaching political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback to improve our offering has only strengthened our resolve and commitment to these ideals. Even in these troubled times resulting from Covid-19, we continue to strive to keep you updated with credible news, authoritative views, and concise comments on relevant topics.
However, we have a request.
As we struggle against the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more so that we can continue to provide you with higher quality content. Our subscription model has received an encouraging response from many of you who have subscribed to our online content. A larger subscription to our online content can only help us achieve our goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practice the journalism to which we are committed.
Support of quality journalism and Subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital editor
Comments are closed.