NEW DELHI: A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice R F Nariman has sought a response from Attorney General K K Venugopal on a plea for striking down a legal provision for restitution of conjugal rights based on 2017 judgment recognising the right to privacy as fundamental right. The plea was filed by two law students.
“Article 15 of the Constitution prohibits discrimination on the ground of sex. The scheme of ‘restitution of conjugal rights’, though facially neutral, is based on the patriarchal conception of woman as property and entrenches gender stereotypes,” the petition stated.
It sought a direction to strike down Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act, Section 22 of the Special Marriage Act and Order 21 of the Rules of 32 and 33 of the Code of Civil Procedure so far as those related to the restitution of conjugal rights for being violative of fundamental rights.