Supreme Court asks woman to move High Court against phone gag

Source: hindustantimes.com

The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed a woman’s petition challenging an unusual restriction imposed on her by the Jharkhand high court which said she could not have a phone of her own and allowed her to talk to her relatives for only one hour a day — on her husband’s phone.

The SC granted liberty to the woman to approach the high court again to get the restrictive clause removed. A division bench of the Supreme Court, last week, found that the high court passed a consent order in which the woman and her estranged husband agreed to follow four conditions for reconciliation of a matrimonial dispute.

“On a reading of the conditions, it appears that the intent is to seclude both petitioner and respondent (wife and husband) from interference in the matrimonial affairs by their respective parents. What is material is that it is a consent order which is so recorded,” said the SC bench.

But, the woman denied before the SC bench that she consented to the condition restricting her from having a phone of her own. The SC then allowed her to raise this issue before HC again.

In February 2019, the woman’s husband, who is a government employee, moved an application before the Jharkhand HC seeking anticipatory bail in connection with a criminal case lodged by his wife in 2016. While dealing with the anticipatory bail application, the HC bench of Justice AK Choudhary found that the couple, who were physically present in the court, agreed to reconcile.

The HC granted bail to the husband on several conditions: that he would keep and maintain his wife with full honour and dignity as his lawful wife; that the family members of the couple would not visit the residence of their stay; that the husband would provide a mobile phone to his wife for talking to her brothers and sisters for a maximum period of one hour daily; that the wife would not keep any individual/separate mobile with her; and that the husband would admit his son to a renowned school.