INTRODUCTION
Whenever I think
of a woman two quotes flash through my mind. The first quote by Brigham Young
who said “You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you
educate a generation.” The second quote by Joseph Conrad who
said “Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since it consists
principally in dealing with men.” So no more description is necessary, I
presume.
This article,
however, seeks to deal with some laws which concern a woman in general and a
woman professing the religions like Islam, Hindu and Christian in particular.
The discussion is very brief and is not at all exhaustive and the idea is to
give a bird’s eye view of the vast topic.
THE
CONSTITUTION ITSELF!
All of us know
that the constitution is the fundamental legal document of a nation and is the
mother of all laws. All the laws spring from it. Our founding fathers took
special care to give protection to women in Article 15 of the constitution the
relevant part of which reads as follows. “The State shall not discriminate
against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, and
place of birth or any of them. Nothing in this article shall prevent the
State from making any special provision for women and children. Thus the
constitution itself provides against any discriminating treatment of women and
even provides for making special laws. We shall see such special laws later.
Article 42 provides for securing just and humane conditions of work and
for maternity relief. Article 234D and Article 234T makes provision for
reservation of one third of the seats for women including women belonging to
SC/ST in the elections to Panchayat and Municipalities respectively.
MOTOR
VEHICLES ACT 1988
Under the Motor
Vehicles Act 1988 it is mandatory to wear helmets by all persons riding a
motorcycle. Exemption is granted to Sikh persons in turban. In Delhi on demand
by Sikh women exemption was granted to all women on the ground that
it is difficult to identify by appearance whether a woman is Sikh or not. Public
interest litigation is now pending before the Delhi High court whereby a person
challenged the exemption to women as an instance of discrimination since
section 129 of the said Act applies to all persons.
Protection
of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005
This Act
was passed by the parliament mainly to protect helpless women who suffers from
physical and mental abuse/assault from her husband or male members staying with
her or their relatives. "Domestic violence "includes actual
abuse or the threat of abuse that is physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and
economic. Harassment by way of unlawful dowry demands to the woman or her
relatives would also be covered under this definition. The woman aggrieved by
the violence can file a complaint before the protection officer appointed for
this purpose in each district in addition to service providers like charitable
societies etc specifically chosen for this purpose. There is provision for
giving shelter homes also to such woman. A word of caution. The act defined
verbal abuse in a wide manner and hence may be misused by woman to settle
scores or petty disputes!
LABOUR
LAWS
The Factories
Act 1948 contains beneficial provisions to protect the interest of women. It
provides for crèches where more than 30 women are employed and they shall not
be required to work before 6AM and after 7PM. The Act does not allow women in
working near dangerous machines like pressing of cotton etc. Similar provisions
are there in the Mines Act 1952 and also under The Plantation Labour Act 1951. Employees
State Insurance Act 1948 provides for the periodical payment to insured women
in case of confinement or miscarriage or sickness arising out of pregnancy,
confinement, premature birth of child or miscarriage in addition to the medical
facilities etc. The maternity benefit Act 1961 provides that a woman worker who
worked for not less than 80 days shall be eligible for maternity benefit and in
the case miscarriage shall be entitled to leave with wages. The equal
Remuneration Act, 1976 was enacted to provide equal remuneration to male and
female workers for the same work or work of the similar nature without any
discrimination. Please note that Article 39(d) of the constitution provides
that there is equal pay for equal work for both men and women.
MUSLIM
WOMAN
THE
MUSLIM WOMAN (PROTECTION ON DIVORCE) ACT 1986 is an important enactment which
created much uproar amongst Muslims in India. The objective of the law
is to protect the rights of Muslim women who have been divorced by, or
have obtained divorce from, their husbands and to provide for matters connected
therewith or incidental thereto. This law was enacted after the famous decision
of the Supreme Court in Shah banu’s case. Shah banu was divorced by her husband
and as per Muslim personal law was not entitled to get continued maintenance
from her husband. But Supreme Court granted her maintenance using section 125
of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP) in supersession of the personal law
that governs the Muslims. This caused widespread criticism and ultimately
Mr.Rajiv Ghandhi was forced to enact the above law which gives an option to
parties to base their claim either under the Act or under section 125 of CCP.
It may be noted that a Muslim marriage is held to be a civil contract as per
the famous decision of Justice Mahmood in Abdur Kadir v Salima ( ILR(1886) 8
ALL 149 as well as a devotional act. The marriage can be dissolved by Talaq and
through judicial process as per the personal law applicable to the concerned
Muslims. The inheritance is based on the provisions in Koran as amended by
later injunctions and traditions.
CHRISTIAN
WOMAN
The
Indian Divorce Act 1869 as amended in 2001 governs the law relating to divorce
of Christian woman. The amendment in 2001 to some extend removed the
discrimination and more favourable treatment given to Christian
husbands. THE INDIAN CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE ACT, 1872 governs the marriage
matters of Christians. The succession of Christians is governed by Indian
Succession Act 1925. After the decision in Mary Roy’s case by the Hon Supreme
court the Indian Succession Act 1925 applies to Christians in Travancore and
Cochin also.
HINDU
WOMAN
THE
Hindu Marriage Act 1955 applies to Hindu woman and makes provision for marriage
and divorce etc. The bridegroom should be 21 years and bride should be 18 years
of age to contract marriage. A Hindu woman is subject to Hindu Succession Act
1955 in the matter of intestate ( ie without will) succession. She can write a
will also if she wish to pass over the property in a manner different from the
Succession Act 1955.
THE
DOWRY PROHIBITION ACT 1961
The
system of payment of dowry in connection with the marriage has been and
continues to be the greatest social evil prevailing in India. To curb this
menace the above law was enacted. Dowry death is now viewed more stringently
and is regarded as an offence cognizable, non-bailable and not compoundable.
But this law has not been very much effective.
THE
CHILD MARRIAGE RESTRAINED ACT 1929
This Act
prohibits child marriages. A male whose age is above 18 but below 21 who
contracts a marriage with a child below 18 years is punishable. A greater
punishment is prescribed for male above 21 years contracting marriage with a
child.
CONCLUSION
The
above explanation is very brief and gives only a general idea about the law
relating to woman in India. There are so many other laws and provisions as well
as judge made laws which the author has not dealt with. There are important
provisions in Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and Indian Evidence
Act etc. which has not been dealt with at all.
Source: lawyersclubindia