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Apex court tells House to rectify divorce law
KATHMANDU, APR 01 -
In what appears to be the first achievement in “men’s rights movement” in Nepal, the Supreme Court on Thursday issued a directive order to the Legislature-Parliament to rectify within one year the divorce law in the Muluki Ain (Civic Code) that was challenged as being “discriminatory” against men.
The court directive was in response to a writ petition filed by some men’s rights activists in November last year that took up this ‘oft-ignored’ issue forcing judges to think of men’s rights as well. A joint bench of justices Bala Ram KC, Prem Sharma, and Mohan Prakash Sitaula took the decision to that effect after hearing the case on Thursday.
Petitioner Keshav Raj Aryal had argued in his petition that the Code does not adhere to the constitutional provision that guarantees equal treatment of all individuals irrespective of sex and gender. The Clause 1 (A) of the Chapter on Husband-Wife in Muluki Ain, he argued before the court, deliberately discriminates against men when it comes to divorce.
As per the law, a husband seeking divorce must first take approval from a local government authority, either Village Development Committee or Municipality. Interestingly, this is not necessary for a woman who seeks divorce-- she can directly approach a local court and end the relation straight away.
The advocates supporting the petition argued that the anti-male legislation discouraged males from filing for divorce and hence should be scrapped.
Justice KC said the court did not scrap the law but directed the House to amend the discriminatory provision because that does not curtail the fundamental rights of husband. “Besides, the time the Muluki Ain was enforced, we had no provision for court-referred mediation and therefore the law required the husbands to approach the local bodies before filing the divorce,” said KC. “The parliament will have to amend the provision within one year.”
Posted on: 2010-04-02 07:31
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