CLAT Exam  >  CLAT Notes  >  Current Affairs: Daily, Weekly & Monthly  >  Current Affairs: Passage of the Day - 17 January 2025

Current Affairs: Passage of the Day - 17 January 2025 | Current Affairs: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - CLAT PDF Download

Directions: Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
The Supreme Court has ruled that proceedings on the restitution of conjugal rights and those on maintenance are “altogether independent” and “not directly or even indirectly connected” – and that a husband must continue to pay maintenance to his wife even if she refuses to comply with a decree for the restitution of conjugal rights.
In effect, this means that a wife will be entitled to money from her husband even if they remain separated in defiance of a court’s order for her to return to the matrimonial home in which they lived as a married couple.
What is the law on the restitution of conjugal rights?
Section 9 of The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (HMA) says that if a wife or husband “has, without reasonable excuse, withdrawn from the society of the other”, the aggrieved party may petition the district court for “restitution of conjugal rights”, and the court may then issue a decree granting the application.
The section was intended to maintain and protect the traditional family unit of a married man and woman living together. However, the law has been contested for decades.
In 1983, the Andhra Pradesh High Court struck down the law and questioned whether such a provision has any place in a modern society. But the Supreme Court set aside this ruling the following year.
A challenge to the constitutionality of the provision filed by a group of students from Gujarat National Law University has been pending before the Supreme Court since 2019.
What were the questions of maintenance and conjugal rights in the present case?
The wife left the matrimonial home in 2015, the year after her marriage.
In July 2018, the husband filed a suit for restitution of conjugal rights under Section 9 of the HMA.
In August 2019, with the conjugal rights case still pending, the wife filed a suit seeking a monthly allowance as maintenance from her husband under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, claiming she was being neglected, and was unable to support herself.
In the conjugal rights case, the wife claimed that she was ill-treated by her husband and his family, and listed several examples of the mental agony inflicted upon her.
However, after she failed to appear to provide further evidence of her claims, the family court, in April 2022, passed a decree for restitution of conjugal rights and directed her to return to the matrimonial home.
The wife did not obey the decree, but the husband has not as yet approached the court for its enforcement through fines or attachment of property under provisions available in the Civil Procedure Code, 1908.
In the meantime, in February 2022, the wife successfully obtained an order directing the husband to pay her Rs 10,000 per month as maintenance. The husband challenged this order before the Jharkhand High Court.
In August 2023, the HC negated the maintenance order, noting that the wife had refused to return even after the family court had issued a decree for restitution of conjugal rights. Also, under Section 125(4) CrPC, a wife shall not be entitled to maintenance if “without any sufficient reason, she refuses to live with her husband”.
The woman challenged this decision before the Supreme Court.
Why did the SC rule in her favour?
The SC set aside the Jharkhand HC’s decision and ordered the husband to continue paying the monthly maintenance.
Relying upon several past HC and SC decisions, a Bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khana and Justice Pankaj Mithal found that courts, wherever possible, rule in favour of granting maintenance to the wife.
It referred to a Tripura HC case from 2017 in which maintenance was granted even though the wife had not complied with a decree for restitution of conjugal rights. The HC had held that “the restriction imposed by Section 125(4) CrPC had been substantially diluted, if not virtually negated”, the SC noted.
The mere passing of a decree for restitution of conjugal rights and the wife’s refusal to comply with the decree is not sufficient for the court to disqualify her from receiving maintenance, it said.
The SC also said that courts must consider the facts of each case to decide whether the wife is entitled to maintenance. In the present case, the Jharkhand HC had given “undue weightage” to findings in the separate conjugal rights case, and had “overlooked” certain crucial factors that may have given the wife “just cause to not return to her matrimonial home”.
So where does the legal debate on ‘conjugal rights’ stand?
In 1983, the AP High Court found that the purpose of Section 9 of the HMA was “to coerce through judicial process the unwilling party to have sex against that person’s consent and freewill with the decree-holder”. However, the SC, in overturning the decision, ruled that the provision “serves a social purpose as an aid to the prevention of breakup of marriage” (Saroj Rani v Sudarshan Kumar Chadha, 1984).
The petition by the Gujarat National Law University students said Section 9 violated the fundamental right against discrimination as it was “based on the patriarchal conception of the woman as property, (and) entrenches gender stereotypes”.
The petitioners argued that the provision also violated the right to privacy, which included “the right to be let alone”.
In September 2022, the Centre filed an affidavit in response to the 2019 PIL saying the provision was gender neutral, and gave couples a “relatively soft” legal remedy to resolve differences “arising out of the normal wear and tear of matrimonial life”.
Substantive hearings in the case are yet to begin.
[Excerpt from Indian Express "Supreme Court on Conjugal Rights" Dated 17/01/25]

Q1: What does Section 9 of The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, allow a spouse to do?
(a) File for divorce without consent
(b) Petition for restitution if the other spouse withdraws from their society
(c) Seek annulment of marriage
(d) Apply for child custody

Current Affairs: Passage of the Day - 17 January 2025 | Current Affairs: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - CLAT  View Answer

Ans: (b)
Sol: Section 9 of The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, allows a spouse to petition for restitution if the other spouse has withdrawn from their society.

Q2: Which court struck down Section 9 in 1983?
(a) Supreme Court of India
(b) Andhra Pradesh High Court
(c) Gujarat High Court
(d) Jharkhand High Court

Current Affairs: Passage of the Day - 17 January 2025 | Current Affairs: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - CLAT  View Answer

Ans: (b)
Sol: The Andhra Pradesh High Court struck down Section 9 in 1983, questioning its relevance in modern society.

Q3: What was the Supreme Court’s stance on Section 9 in 1984?
(a) It upheld the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s decision.
(b) It declared Section 9 unconstitutional.
(c) It overturned the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s ruling, stating it prevents marital breakdown.
(d) It amended Section 9 to include privacy rights.

Current Affairs: Passage of the Day - 17 January 2025 | Current Affairs: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - CLAT  View Answer

Ans: (c)
Sol: The Supreme Court overturned the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s ruling in 1984, stating that Section 9 aids in preventing marital breakdown.

Q4: In the recent case, when did the wife leave her husband?
(a) 2018
(b) 2015
(c) 2019
(d) 2022

Current Affairs: Passage of the Day - 17 January 2025 | Current Affairs: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - CLAT  View Answer

Ans: (b)
Sol: The wife left her husband in 2015, as stated in the case background.

Q5: How much monthly maintenance was granted to the wife in February 2022?
(a) Rs 5,000
(b) Rs 15,000
(c) Rs 10,000
(d) Rs 20,000

Current Affairs: Passage of the Day - 17 January 2025 | Current Affairs: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - CLAT  View Answer

Ans: (c)
Sol: The wife was granted Rs 10,000 monthly maintenance in February 2022.

The document Current Affairs: Passage of the Day - 17 January 2025 | Current Affairs: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - CLAT is a part of the CLAT Course Current Affairs: Daily, Weekly & Monthly.
All you need of CLAT at this link: CLAT
Are you preparing for CLAT Exam? Then you should check out the best video lectures, notes, free mock test series, crash course and much more provided by EduRev. You also get your detailed analysis and report cards along with 24x7 doubt solving for you to excel in CLAT exam. So join EduRev now and revolutionise the way you learn!
Sign up for Free Download App for Free
959 docs|672 tests

Up next

Up next

Explore Courses for CLAT exam
Related Searches

MCQs

,

Important questions

,

Current Affairs: Passage of the Day - 17 January 2025 | Current Affairs: Daily

,

Current Affairs: Passage of the Day - 17 January 2025 | Current Affairs: Daily

,

Extra Questions

,

Objective type Questions

,

practice quizzes

,

ppt

,

past year papers

,

Current Affairs: Passage of the Day - 17 January 2025 | Current Affairs: Daily

,

Weekly & Monthly - CLAT

,

Free

,

Viva Questions

,

mock tests for examination

,

Sample Paper

,

Weekly & Monthly - CLAT

,

Semester Notes

,

study material

,

pdf

,

Summary

,

video lectures

,

Previous Year Questions with Solutions

,

shortcuts and tricks

,

Weekly & Monthly - CLAT

,

Exam

;