This article has been written by Ms. Kumari Shalini, a fourth-year student of Lloyd Law College, Greater Noida. 

ABSTRACT 

In India, the laws about the Christian minority have undergone few modifications in contrast to the Hindu personal laws that govern them. Numerous problems have arisen nationwide as a result of the government’s obvious contempt for the aforementioned minority’s legislation, and that also in a secular and diverse country like India. In this article, we will see about Christian Personal Law in India, the challenges they face, and the legal aid provided to the spouses with the help of case judgments ranging from lower courts to High courts. 

INTRODUCTION

Marriage has always been seen as a union of two souls, taking each other’s responsibility and doing the daily chores be it in Hindu Law, Muslim Law, Parsi Law, or Christian Personal Law. The spouses are tied together to handle the social responsibility as well as to maintain family obligations. But many couples face problems in their married life which also lead to separation sometimes, and affect both spouses equally. India is the most diversified and multicultural nation knowing about Personal Law is vital. So what is a Personal Law? It is a legislation that establishes which laws apply to an individual based on their particular religious identity. During British rule, indigenous people living on the Indian Peninsula were not subject to a single legal system; rather, they were free to rely on their traditions, customs, and laws in some situations. India presently faces a predicament very similar to this. Hindu personal law, Muslim personal law, Christian personal law, Parsi personal law, and Jewish personal law are the five diverse faith groups’ law systems.

Some claim that India’s Christian history begins with the first disciples of Jesus in the first century CE. Despite making up only 2.4% of India’s enormous population, the country is home to millions of Christians today. Approximately 50% of all Christians reside in South India, while a comparatively larger proportion of Christians are found in the more sparsely populated Northeast region of India, where the bulk of Christians are members of tribal communities.

Christian’s current status in India

The Indian Divorce Act (IDA), 1869, and the Indian Christian Marriage Act (ICMA), 1872, govern Christians in India. The act’s primary objective was to codify all of the legal guidelines about the solemnization of a recognized marriage to streamline the current legal system. Until then, two British statutes and two Indian Legislature acts included the regulations on this topic. Nonetheless, the Canon, a body of laws that fundamentally controls weddings and the nullity of marriages for those who profess Catholicism, oversees the Catholic denominations. Consequently, courts that make decisions about Catholics are referred to as church or ecclesiastical courts, and they are controlled by the Canon Law of 1983. All Christian marriages performed in India are subject to the ICMA Act, of 1872, regardless of the partners’ nationality or place of residence. Every marriage between two people “one or both of whom is or are Christian or Christians,” according to Section 4 of the Act, must be formally celebrated in line with Section 5 of the Act, if not the marriage will be considered void.

Similarly, The Indian Divorce Act of 1869 governs various matrimonial provisions as well as the laws about divorce for those who identify as Christians. Both the husband and the wife had the option to petition the court under the Indian Divorce Act to have their marriage declared void. The petition was based on the following grounds: impotence, the forbidden levels of affinity or consanguinity between the spouse, If a Christian is involved in the proceedings, this Act is applicable. The grounds on which a husband or wife may file for a dissolution of marriage are listed in Part III, Section 10 of the Act. 

Women in Christianity

Patriarchal societies, where men held positions of authority in marriage, society, and government, gave rise to Christianity. While women were not ordained to the priesthood in the early centuries, Christianity gave rise to the monastic tradition that included the convent, which allowed women to play a significant role in Church life and has done so ever since. This involvement has been especially evident in the founding of monastic settlements, schools, hospitals, and nursing homes. After that all the Christian traditions saw Jesus as treating women with dignity, and compassion. Most female preachers are now more involved in church than usual, sharing the same responsibility as men do in the church, their ratio has seen a great spike, with respect for females by smashing the old patriarchy. 

Divorce in Christian Personal Law

It is very much visible from the old times that women have gone through some devious discrimination against their opposite gender and been suppressed for years even when it comes to getting a divorce, they are considered equal. The Indian Divorce Act of 1869, which was enacted a century ago regulates the law relating to divorce of people who profess Christian religion, contained some harsh, unwanted grounds for divorce that men could divorce that only included adultery on the part of women, whereas the women had to prove an extra ground for divorce like cruelty, conversion or bigamy along with adultery leading to a great gender discrimination. Thus, reform was very much needed in this archaic law which was brought in the case of Jorden Diengdeh v. S.S. Chopra, 1985. 

In this case, belonging to the ‘Khasi Tribe’ of Meghalaya, the petitioner, Ms. Jordan was raised as a Presbyterian Christian (means belonging or relating to a protestant church) from birth. She has joined the Indian Foreign Service as of right now. The spouse of the respondent, Mr. S.S. Chopra is a Sikh. By the Indian Christian Marriage Act of 1872, they were married. In 1980, the petitioner filed a petition under sections 18, 19, and 22 of the Indian Divorce Act, of 1869, seeking judicial separation or a declaration of nullity of marriage due to impotence of her husband. The court understood the importance of reforming the law of marriage and making uniform provisions that apply to everyone irrespective of their religion or caste thus diminishing gender discrimination. The court held to include irretrievable breakdown of marriage and mutual consent as grounds for divorce in all cases. 

Women go through a lot after their divorce it is common in every religion’s Personal Law that they become mentally weak, lack trust, regular exhaustion, and decrease in social maturity and affection, they also experience adverse effects on their parental well-being as it becomes difficult for them to manage everything at an instant. Financial support for the children becomes impossible for women to handle on their own. Since the time of Independence, the court involving the case of Christian Personal Law has always been concerned with the rights of women to inherit property for their future survival along with the children. In the famous case of Mary Roy v. State of Kerala, 1986, the court gave the right to Christian women to inherit ancestral property equally with their male siblings. It was further decided that the verdict rendered by the Kerala High Court granting Mrs. Mary Roy her possession of the aforementioned property would also take effect retrospectively. Accordingly, the court decided that the widow’s mother would get one-third of her late husband’s estate, Mrs. Mary Roy would take another one-third, and her brother would take the other one-third.  In the case of intestate succession, it was decided that daughters and boys should receive the same portion and that there should be no distinction made between them. Thus, Mary received this consideration due to the court’s support and acknowledgment thus giving growth to justice. 

Legal assistance available for female Christian spouses

Maintenance- A Christian woman can seek maintenance from her spouse through criminal proceedings or civil proceedings. Christian wives who have been divorced and are unable to provide for their children need not fear, as there is legal recourse available to them. By Section 37 of the Indian Divorce Act of 1869, the spouse is required to provide the dependent with alimony, or maintenance, for the duration of the spouse’s life, as determined by the judge in a civil or high court. The Indian Divorce Act of 1869, which exclusively applies to Christians, sets forth the terms for a Christian wife’s support rights, among other things. With the caveat that alimony during the litigation cannot exceed one-fifth of the husband’s average net income for the three years before the order’s date, and that it will continue in the event of a decree declaring a marriage null and void until the decree is confirmed or made absolute, as applicable.

Inheritance of property that we discussed above, the Christian female spouse can seek an equal share in the property along with their male siblings.

Dissolution of Marriage- Any wife may file a petition for a dissolution of marriage with the District Court or the High Court. Any of the following situations allow the wife to submit such a petition:

• If her husband has abandoned his Christian faith in favor of practicing another religion; 
• if he has had an extramarital affair with a different woman; 
• if he has committed incestuous adultery since the marriage ceremony; 
• if bigamy and adultery have coexisted; 
• if he has married another woman while having an affair; 
• if he has committed rape, sodomy, or bestiality; if adultery combined with such cruelty as would have qualified her for a divorce. 

CONCLUSION

A legally recognized and socially accepted sexual relationship between two adults is called marriage. In most societies, marriage has historically been regarded as a sacrament. Nonetheless, marriages nowadays are legally obligated to each other and are governed by contracts. Though there are many different types of marriage, monogamy, and polygamy are the most widely used categories. The idea of male dominance and female subservience has been the foundation of marriage dogma for centuries. Marital violence is a tragic reality of the institutions of marriage and the family. It can take many different forms, including domestic violence. Nowadays, nearly every society has legalized divorce. However, because it is strongly entwined with religious and other social identities, the conversation in India about women’s rights in marriage and the family is complicated and divisive, hence their security is most important which draw the attention of concerned authority to provide them with proper legal aid that can assist them better to take a wiser decision in their future. 

REFERENCES

• Jordan v. Diengdeh, 1985 AIR 935
• Mary Roy V. State of Kerala 1986 AIR 1011
• Pew Research Center for numerical figures. The link for the same is herein:

https://aishwaryasandeep.in/matrimonial-cruelty-under-the-indian-christian-marriage-act-legal-consequences/

• This article was originally written by Namrata Madhu and published in the Jus Corpus Journal. The link for the same is herein:

https://www.juscorpus.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/11.-Namrata-Madhu-Raghunath.pdf

• This article was written by Sawmya Ray and published on Egyankosh. The link for the same is herein:

 https://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/5457/1/MWG-009B2E-U3.pdf

• The History of Women in the Church. The link for the same is herein: https://graceplano.church/about/role-of-women-in-church/#:~:text=Women%20are%20seen%20as%20equals,loves%20Christ%E2%80%9D%20%E2%80%93%20(Eph.
• Maintenance under Hindu, Muslim, Christian, and Parsi Law. The link for the same is herein: https://www.legalserviceindia.com/articles/hmcp.htm#:~:text=Maintenance%20Under%20Christian%20Law,no%20legal%20bar%20to%20it.