A Supreme Court judgement has sparked off a controversy, senior CPM leader Brinda Karat has written to Law Minister Veerappa Moily complaining against the judgement which she says can only be considered a retrograde judgement.
Brinda Karat urged the law minister to ensure that a review petition is filed at the earliest and said:
"Such a judicial understanding of cruelty will be a license for domestic violence, both mental or physical. It may also encourage wife-beaters."
She said if unchallenged, the judgement will undo the positive steps taken by the government and Parliament to address the increasing number of cases of domestic violence.
While hearing a case of marital dispute between a woman and her South-Africa based husband the supreme court held that:
"Kicking a daughter-in-law or giving divorce threats is not cruelty."
The apex court also held that a husband and his relatives cannot be prosecuted for "cruelty" merely because the mother-in-law or other family members give constant sermons to the daughter-in-law or allegedly treat her shabbily by giving her used clothes.
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