Wife is not slave or property of husband, can’t be forced to live with : Supreme Court

New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Tuesday, during the hearing of a case, said that the wife is not a slave or inheritance of her husband, who can be asked to forcibly stay with the husband. The court made this statement during the hearing of a case in which the husband had pleaded with the court to order his wife to stay with him.

During the hearing, the Supreme Court justices Sanjay Kishan and Hemant Gupta said, ‘What do you think? Is she a female slave or property, what we order? Is the woman any property that we ask her to go with you?’

At the core of the dispute is an April 2019 order on the restoration of marital rights, which was granted by the Family Court of Gorakhpur in favor of the husband under section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act. The woman claimed that since marriage in 2013, she was tortured by her husband for dowry.

In 2015, the woman filed a petition in the Gorakhpur court, demanding alimony from her husband. The court ordered the husband to pay Rs 20 thousand to the wife every month. After this, the husband filed a petition in the court for the restoration of her marriage rights.

Following the order of the Family Court of Gorakhpur, the husband moved the High Court and questioned the maintenance and allowance of the petition and asked why it is needed when he is willing to live with his wife. The Allahabad High Court dismissed the petition after which the man approached the Supreme Court.

In her defense, the woman argued that her husband’s entire game is to avoid paying alimony. The woman’s lawyer also told the court that the husband also went to the family court only when he got the order to give alimony to the wife.

The Supreme Court gave this comment on the demand of the husband to order the wife to stay together continuously and also rejected the petition of the husband in which he sought to restore his marital rights.