Supreme Court Judge Justice Surya Kant highlights the uncomfortable truth that marriage has long been used to subjugate women, urging society to redefine it as a partnership built on equality, dignity, and mutual respect.
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NEW DELHI: Supreme Court Judge Justice Surya Kant described marriage as an institution that has too often served as a tool of oppression against women. Speaking at a seminar on “Cross-Cultural Perspectives: Emerging Trends and Challenges in Family Law in England and India”, Justice Kant termed it an “uncomfortable truth” that marriage, across time and geography, has been “misused as an instrument of subjugation against women.”
While acknowledging this historical reality, the judge struck a hopeful tone, emphasizing that modern legal and social developments are slowly reshaping marriage into “a partnership of equality and respect.”
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Justice Surya Kant traced the evolution of marriage across cultures and eras, observing that the institution, though often idealized as sacred, has historically been structured in ways that disadvantaged women.
“Across continents, cultures and eras, marriage has too often been misused as an instrument of subjugation against women,”
he said.
He noted that in India, marriage was traditionally viewed “not as a civil contract but as a sacred and enduring sacrament.” In earlier times, family relations were governed more by social and moral norms rather than by formal legal frameworks. This often left women without clear legal protections or remedies.
However, the judge pointed out that in the modern era,
“contemporary legal and social reforms in both jurisdictions are gradually transforming marriage from a site of inequality into a pious partnership grounded in dignity, mutual respect, and constitutional values of equality.”
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Justice Kant emphasized that both the judiciary and the legislature in India have been instrumental in strengthening women’s rights within marriage. Through a combination of landmark judgments and legislative measures, such as laws against domestic violence, cruelty, and dowry harassment, the state has sought to move away from patriarchal norms and toward gender justice.
This shift, he suggested, represents a broader societal evolution, one that sees marriage not as a hierarchy, but as a mutual bond founded on respect and equality.
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Justice Kant also touched upon the growing complexity of cross-border matrimonial disputes, an area where globalisation and migration have brought unique challenges to family law. He noted that the Supreme Court has framed detailed guidelines for recognising foreign divorce decrees and marriage-related judgments.
However, such judgments, he stressed, are not automatically enforceable in India:
“It has also been expressly held that such judgments would not be recognised in India if they were obtained by fraud, or if they contravened the principles of natural justice or the substantive laws of this country.”
When children are involved, the legal and moral stakes become even higher. Justice Kant underscored the need for courts to respect the principle of comity of courts, ensuring cooperation between jurisdictions, while keeping the welfare of the child as the top priority.
