Calling a woman ‘Illegitimate wife’ or ‘Faithful mistress’ is a violation of the Constitution

Supreme Court objects to Bombay High Court’s statement

New Delhi – The Supreme Court on Wednesday observed ‘calling a woman an “illegitimate wife” or “faithful mistress” is misogynistic and will amount to a violation of her fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution’. Holding that a spouse in a void marriage is entitled to seek maintenance under the Hindu Marriage Act, a three-judge bench led by Justice Abhay S Oka took an exception to the use of the words by the Bombay High Court in its 2004 judgement.

“Calling the wife of a marriage declared as void as an illegitimate wife is very inappropriate. It affects the dignity of the concerned woman,” it said. The bench said, unfortunately, the Bombay High Court went to the extent of using the words “illegitimate wife”. Shockingly, the High Court described such a wife as a “faithful mistress”. It is pertinent to note that the High Court has not used similar adjectives in the case of husbands of void marriages, it pointed out. “Under Article 21 of the Constitution, every person has a fundamental right to lead a dignified life,” the bench said. The bench opined describing a woman by using these words is against the ethos and ideals of our Constitution.