Justice Nagarathna strongly supported women’s socio-economic freedom and said it should be seen as a good thing by society. She pointed out that women who are educated and working not only help their families but also help build the nation.
Bengaluru, April 12: Supreme Court judge Justice B V Nagarathna said on Saturday that the family structure in India is going through major changes, and this is not only affecting how families live and function but also bringing new challenges to the legal system.
Speaking at the Southern Zone Regional Conference on “Family: The Basis of Indian Society,” she explained how different factors are leading to this transformation. These include better access to education, more people living in cities, job-related movement across places, people focusing more on individual goals, and importantly, the rising financial independence of women thanks to their education.
“This transition,” she said, “is set to be propelled by a multitude of factors including greater access to common education, increasing urbanisation, greater mobility of the workforce right from individualistic aspirations and the growing economic independence of women going to their education. The law has also aided in this transformation.”
She reminded the audience that in every civilisation across the world, family has always been seen as the most basic and important part of society. It connects us to our past and helps shape the future.
“It is the link to ‘our past and a bridge to our future’,” she said.
Justice Nagarathna strongly supported women’s socio-economic freedom and said it should be seen as a good thing by society. She pointed out that women who are educated and working not only help their families but also help build the nation.
“The socio-economic liberation of women due to education and employment must be viewed positively and encouraged by the society. Such women, not only contribute to the well-being of the family but to the nation as well.”
She also gave valuable advice on how to resolve family conflicts. According to her, most family disputes in courts can be settled if both husband and wife take just two steps: understanding and respecting each other, and being aware of themselves.
“The first is to have an understanding and respect for the other and the second is an awareness of oneself. This is in the context of the husband and the wife. By understanding the respect for the other, I mean that one partner should keep into consideration the other partner’s interest at all times. Whenever the first partner appears to do something which in the opinion of the other partner is problematic, the other partner must reason such action standing in the shoes of the first partner,” she explained.
Justice Nagarathna, who is also the Chairperson of the Family Courts Committee of the Supreme Court, said partners should try to see things from the other’s point of view. This will help them talk things out instead of turning small issues into big fights.
“Partners must actively try to understand the perspective and reasoning of the other from the lens of the other partner. This will help in creating an engagement between the partners rather than escalating it into a dispute.”
She made it clear that women’s financial and social growth is not the reason behind increasing family problems. Instead, the issue is that society is not changing its attitude to keep up with the times.
“Once such an attitude is cultivated in all parties to the marriage or those who are partners outside marriage, it will be evident that it is not the increasing financial and social liberation of women that is the root cause for increasing disputes rather it is the lack of updating our attitudes and practices with changing socio-economic situations, particularly that of women that is at the heart of rising disputes in the family,” she said.
She also stressed the importance of recognizing the hard work of homemakers, especially women who manage the home without expecting anything in return.
“Such practices or these two steps will also mean that men will realise that in this age, they must also empower their wives monetarily who work 24×7 as homemakers without expecting anything in return.”
Justice Nagarathna pointed out that these two steps can also help raise children in a better environment.
She warned that society’s refusal to change its thinking is causing a rise in the number of family cases in court. One major issue is the huge backlog of pending cases.
“The lack of change in the attitudes of the society also has spillover effects on the mounting number of cases before family courts. The first and foremost issue is the docket explosion and increasing pendency of the cases.”
Citing a media report, she said that almost 40% of marriages in the last ten years have ended in separation or divorce. This shows that India does not have enough family courts to handle all these cases.
“This means that the number of family courts in India are not enough to deal with the rising institution of cases. Consequently, there is a heavy burden placed on the presiding officers of the family courts.”
She added that limited funds and poor infrastructure are adding to the problem.
“As there is also limited financial resources and consequently inadequate infrastructure facilities this leads to overcrowding of …. and inadequate support services day by day in imparting of justice,” she said.
To help with this, Justice Nagarathna recommended that pre-litigation mediation and conciliation should be made compulsory. Filing a formal case often creates more division between the partners.
“Pre-litigation conciliations and mediations as a mandatory procedure. This is because the crystallisation of a dispute in the form of pleadings often results in polarisation between the parties.”
She said that having trained mediators or retired judges in family courts can help resolve issues before they reach court. She gave an example of how small issues, like a bad breakfast or getting late to an event, can turn into major fights if not handled early.
“Family courts must have trained mediators, or retired judges as mediators, to prevent the dispute from entering the family court. Consequently what happens otherwise what has started as a dispute between the parties probably over a breakfast not being alright or one spouse not getting ready on time to an event could result in multiple disputes leading to breakdown of marriage.”
She concluded by saying that in such situations, children suffer the most.
“The children are the main sufferers in these cases. This also results in procedural delays and possibly of contradictory orders being passed by different courts,” she added.
