Laws dealing with issues related to marriage and divorce were the focus of the Southern Region Law Review consultation meet organised by Tamil Nadu National Law University (TNNLU) and the National Council for Women (NCW) here on Friday.
The meeting was held over three sessions on TNNLU’s campus at Navalur Kottapattu, with 14 resource persons from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Puducherry, Goa and Andhra Pradesh, deliberating on the framework for marriage and divorce laws in the Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities. It is one of five such zonal programmes organised by the NCW.
“The aim of this consultation is for us to make suggestions on policy changes, taking into account societal change. We are faced with new situations due to the effect of technology and social media in the past decade. These discussions will help us study the problems from the ground level and make recommendations to the respective ministries,” Ashutosh Pande, Under Secretary, NCW, told The Hindu.
Among the issues discussed at the opening session on Hindu law were expediting procedural delays in claiming maintenance and alimony, separating legal solutions for the third gender from the queer community, and respecting tribal customs related to matrimony.
The need to impose a timeline on filing replies to legal suits was felt to be a common requirement by the participants. Others discussed the problems arising out of the blanket application of Hindu Marriage Act on non-Hindu communities such as tribal people and Buddhists.
In her address, N.S. Meenachandra, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Tiruchi, said most of the marriage and divorce laws were women-oriented, but legislative impetus was needed to address the problems, particularly to the affected individuals.
Mr. Pande presented a concept note at the meeting.
V. Nagraj, Vice-Chancellor, and S. M. Balakrishnan, Registrar, TNNLU, spoke.
