A Constitutional Scrutiny Of Restitution Of Conjugal Rights: The Study Of A Conflict Between Individual Autonomy And Marital Duty
- IJLLR Journal
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Ritojit Dasgupta, LL.M., Department of Law, University of Calcutta.
ABSTRACT
Marriage is a socially acknowledged and a legally ratified union of an adult male and adult female. In India, marriage is a sacrament for the Hindus, a contract for the Muslims and a holy union for the Christians. In India, the institution of marriage is held up with sanctity not only by the society but also by the Courts. Besides being a social institution, the conjugal tie also imposes certain rights and responsibilities. Marriage is often regarded as the basic component for the formation of family. However, it is very natural to say that when two individuals unite, conflicts are bound to arise among themselves. Dissolution of a marital tie is always not regarded to be the greatest form of solution to a marital discord. The moral and ethical values of India provide that a marital bond should always be aimed to be preserved. Restitution of Conjugal Rights is that remedy which has been prescribed by the law to preserve a marital bond.
The remedy of restitution of conjugal rights owes its roots to the common law. It was regarded as a form of specific performance. It was introduced in India during the period of British Raj. This remedy was first implemented in the case of Moonshee Buzloor Ruheem v. Shumsoonissa Begum1. At present, this remedy has been provided in various personal laws. However, analysing the concept of restitution of conjugal rights in the light of the Constitution of India, there have been occasions where it has been observed that restitution of conjugal rights stood in violation of the right to privacy. While this provision was held to be unconstitutional in T. Sareetha vs T. Venkata Subbaiah2, the constitutionality of this provision was upheld Ritojit Dasgupta, LL.M., Department of Law, University of Calcutta.
ABSTRACT
Marriage is a socially acknowledged and a legally ratified union of an adult male and adult female. In India, marriage is a sacrament for the Hindus, a contract for the Muslims and a holy union for the Christians. In India, the institution of marriage is held up with sanctity not only by the society but also by the Courts. Besides being a social institution, the conjugal tie also imposes certain rights and responsibilities. Marriage is often regarded as the basic component for the formation of family. However, it is very natural to say that when two individuals unite, conflicts are bound to arise among themselves. Dissolution of a marital tie is always not regarded to be the greatest form of solution to a marital discord. The moral and ethical values of India provide that a marital bond should always be aimed to be preserved. Restitution of Conjugal Rights is that remedy which has been prescribed by the law to preserve a marital bond.
The remedy of restitution of conjugal rights owes its roots to the common law. It was regarded as a form of specific performance. It was introduced in India during the period of British Raj. This remedy was first implemented in the case of Moonshee Buzloor Ruheem v. Shumsoonissa Begum1. At present, this remedy has been provided in various personal laws. However, analysing the concept of restitution of conjugal rights in the light of the Constitution of India, there have been occasions where it has been observed that restitution of conjugal rights stood in violation of the right to privacy. While this provision was held to be unconstitutional in T. Sareetha vs T. Venkata Subbaia, the constitutionality of this provision was upheld Smt. Saroj Rani vs Sudarshan Kumar Chadha.
