Judges of Normality: Mediating Marriage in the Family Courts of Kolkata, India

Abstract

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Daughters’ inheritance, legal pluralism, and governance in Pakistan

“…At the same time, but interestingly unrelated and to a great extent unnoticed, some anthropological studies have shed light on the specific modalities in which stability and apparent accountability of the legal machinery in Pakistan has been largely supported by the many procedures of out-of-court justice (Chaudhary 1999;Mehdi 2002). Most recently, in India, alternative dispute resolution has been moderately incorporated into the governance agenda (Solanki 2011) with consequent neutralization of those instances of resistance sometimes provided by the fora of customary dispute settlement (Basu 2012;Holden 2012). It should also pointed out that with these fora of alternative dispute resolution and adjudication with the state's imprimatur (see also Vatuk in this special issue) the caste or community-based fora (Hindi/Urdu jati panchayat and biradari panchayat) have continued to settle justice in many areas of the sub-continent (Holden 2008, 82 note 5; see also Sbriccoli in this special issue).…”

“…With the help of forward thinking lawyers and judges, women could get a fair share". This point is crucial because judicial activism in India and in Pakistan has afforded very significant room for interpretation even beyond the legislator's purpose (Basu 2012;Menski 2001;Holden 2011b). Nevertheless, as this paper has shown, positive law alone is failing in adequately supporting daughter's inheritance claims.…”

Religious personal laws as non-state laws: implications for gender justice

“…Solanki (2012) argues that shared adjudication between state and other bodies can enhance gender justice; cf. Basu (2012) who argues that feminists should strive for substantive rights rather than accept that mediation is a better alternative. 30.…”

Beyond the Limitations of the Impasse: Feminism, Multiculturalism, and Legal Reforms in Religious Family Laws in India

“…Another consequence is that litigant women often use this section to bargain for post-divorce economic rights, or to bargain for divorce (as faultless divorce was not awarded in family law 42 ); in exchange, they drop cases 43 (Basu 2011;Solanki 2011). The law has been criticised by men's rights groups for its alleged misuse.…”

“…Some feminists have questioned whether this act is useful in combating domestic violence. They suggest that the act is not an effective deterrent, because Section 498(A), IPC, is used quite often to bargain for postnuptial maintenance rather than penalise men (Kishwar 2000), and that bargaining for economic rights does not always level gender inequality (Basu 2011). Others suggest, however, that the infiltration of law in popular discourse and legal strategies challenges the normalisation of domestic violence, and the possibility of criminal punishment challenges male impunity.…”