LawLoveLegal

The Supreme Court of India has delivered a landmark ruling reinforcing the financial rights, dignity and constitutional protections of divorced Muslim women. In a significant judgment, the Court held that a Muslim woman is legally entitled to recover all property, cash, gold and other articles given to her or her husband by her family at the time of marriage. This decision strengthens the interpretation of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, ensuring that divorced women are not denied their rightful property due to patriarchal norms or narrow statutory interpretation. Items Given at Marriage Are the Woman’s Property The Supreme Court categorically stated that all items given by the woman’s family to the groom’s side—whether in the form of dower (mehr), dowry, or gifts—must legally be treated as the woman’s property. The bench, comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and N. Kotiswar Singh, held that after the dissolution of marriage, these items must be returned ...

The Supreme Court of India has raised serious institutional concerns over what it described as a “growing trend” of reopening and overturning its own judgments before differently constituted benches. The remarks came during the hearing of a plea in a 2019 West Bengal murder case, and the Court warned that repeated reversals threaten judicial discipline, legal certainty, and the constitutional principle of finality in decision-making. Case Background: Plea by Anisur Rahman The observations were made while hearing a plea filed by Anisur Rahman, an accused in a 2019 murder case in West Bengal. Rahman sought modification of a bail condition that prohibited him from leaving Kolkata. A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and A.G. Masih refused to modify the earlier bail order passed in January, noting that the new application was filed shortly after the judge heading the earlier bench had demitted office. The Court viewed this timing as an attempt to obtain a favorable outcome due to the c...