The Supreme Court recently stated that calling a woman an “illegitimate wife” or “faithful mistress” will amount to violation of her fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. .The Bench of Justices AS Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanulllah and Augustine George Masih made the observations after finding such phrases in a 2003 judgment of the Bombay High Court..While dealing with an alimony case, the Bombay High Court had in the case of Bhausaheb @ Sandu S/O Raghuji Magar v. Leelabai W/O Bhausaheb Magar referred to the woman in a marriage rendered void as an “illegitimate wife” and a "faithful mistress"..The Bench stated that Bombay High Court should not have termed the wife of a void marriage as an illegitimate wife and that it was "very inappropriate.""It affects the dignity of the concerned woman. Unfortunately, the Bombay High Court went to the extent of using the words “illegitimate wife”. Shockingly, in paragraph 24, the High Court described such a wife as a “faithful mistress”," reads the judgment. .The Court further noted that the High Court had not used similar adjectives in the case of husbands of void marriages."Describing a woman by using these words is against the ethos and ideals of our Constitution. No one can use such adjectives while referring to a woman who is a party to a void marriage. Unfortunately, we find that such objectionable language is used in a judgment of the Full Bench of a High Court. The use of such words is misogynistic...".In the same judgment, the Court held that a spouse whose marriage has been declared void under Section 11 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 is entitled to seek permanent alimony or maintenance from the other spouse by invoking Section 25 of the 1955 Act.However, it cautioned that whether such a relief of permanent alimony can be granted or not "always depends on the facts of each case and the conduct of the parties since grant of relief under Section 25 is always discretionary.".[Read Judgment]
