Centre approves changes in Bill to amend marriage laws

Acceding to the demands of the Opposition, the government has brought changes in the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010, introduced in Rajya Sabha recently, to give the wife and children a clearly-defined share in the husband’s immovable residential property in case of divorce.

The Union Cabinet, at its meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, also approved a provision that both husband and wife seeking divorce will have to file petitions together for waiver of the six-months cooling period.

The Bill seeks to amend the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 which codifies the law relating to marriage among Hindus and the Special Marriage Act, 1954 that provides for special form of marriage in certain cases.

The Bill, which faced strong opposition in Rajya Sabha after its introduction last month, had allowed waiver of the mandatory cooling period if the couple seeking divorce had mutual consent to it.

The BJP was of the view that the proposed legislation, which sought to include “irretrievable breakdown of marriage” among the grounds for divorce, could turn “dangerous” for women in the Indian social context.

The Union Cabinet on Thursday also gave nod to a bill that seeks to protect the rich biodiversity of the country and also safeguard Indian agriculture from bio-terrorism and inflow of dangerous pests from outside.

The bill stipulates setting up of a National Agriculture Bio-diversity Authority which would keep a check on inflow of external pests in course of the import of agricultural and animal products. The Authority will be set in the lines of similar legislation in the US, New Zealand and Australia.

The proposed National Agriculture Bio-diversity Bill, 2012, will replace the Destructive Insects and Pest Act of 1914.