Marriage laws to be more women friendly

NEW DELHI: Marriage laws will now become more women friendly with the government today approving a slew of recommendations of a Group of Ministers (GoM) including providing for sufficient compensation to a woman from her husband's ancestral property in case of divorce.

The Cabinet today approved the recommendations of the GoM on Marriage Laws Amendment Bill, sources said here.

One of the key issues the GoM was asked to decide was whether a court can work out "sufficient compensation" for a woman from her husband's ancestral property in case of divorce which takes place on the grounds of "irretrievable breakdown of marriage".

The GoM, set up recently to decide on the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, was also asked to take a view on whether a judge can exercise discretion in granting divorce if one of the partners does not move a second 'joint application' for divorce with mutual consent.

While the bill has a provision for share in a husband's self-acquired property, a new clause - 13 f - was discussed by the GoM headed by Defence Minister A K Antony.

It says if the ancestral property cannot be be divided, then the woman should get sufficient compensation by calculating husband's share in it. The amount of the compensation can be worked out by the court hearing the divorce case.

The GoM also discussed the issue of allowing courts to decide on doing away with the mandatory six-month waiting period for couples seeking divorce through a joint petition by mutual consent.