Bill to grant statutory cover to family courts cleared by Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill to grant statutory cover to family courts set up in Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland and retrospectively validate all actions taken by them.

The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill to grant statutory cover to family courts set up in Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland and retrospectively validate all actions taken by them, as Union law minister Kiren Rijiju urged the lower house to pass the bill with a limited debate since it had limited amendments.

The Family Courts (Amendment) Bill was introduced in the House on July 18. (ANI)

The Family Courts (Amendment) Bill was introduced in the House on July 18. It allows state governments to establish family courts. The Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland governments have set up family courts under the Act. However, the central government had not extended the application of the Act to these states.

The Bill seeks to extend the application of the Act to the state of Himachal Pradesh, with effect from February 15, 2019, and to the state of Nagaland, with effect from September 12, 2008.

In discussions prior to the bill’s passage, MPs from various parties stressed uniform time limits to resolve family disputes, appointment of more women judges to family courts and better training for lawyers.

Participating in the debate, Kaushalendra Kumar of the Janata Dal (United) said the number of pending cases in family courts stood at over 1.1 million and called for expeditious settlement of the cases. Bhartruhari Mahtab of the Biju Janata Dal said the government should state in the house what it was doing to expedite pending cases in family courts.

Jayadev Galla of the TDP raised the issue of discrimination against husbands in marital disputes with regard to custody of children, calling for appointing marriage counsellors on a permanent basis. He said 235 more family courts were supposed to be set up during 2015-2020.

The BJP’s Nishikant Dubey criticised “western culture” on which Indian laws were made and criticised the Supreme Court’s decision to decriminalise homosexuality. He also spoke out against same-sex marriages and live-in relationships.