Manipur High Court: A family court can designate a mother a single parent

In the latest judgement presided over by Justice A. Guneshwar Sharma and Acting Chief Justice MV Muralidaran, the Manipur High Court passed an order stating that the legal rights of an unmarried single mother were recently affirmed signifying a major achievement for those striving for validation of their marital status.

In this particular case, the woman worked for the State Medical Department who was living together with her partner, a doctor by profession without getting married. In 1984, she delivered a daughter, and in 1994, a son was born. The officials required a photo of her with her husband together when she retired from her job in 2022. She stated that she is without a husband instead and sent a picture of herself with her children. The officials in charge declined to process the retirement pension after making remarks on her statement as absurd.

The woman then filed a case in the family court in 2022 requesting for an acknowledgement of the fact that she is an unmarried and a single mother. The family court ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the case because of marriage not taking place between her and her previous live-in boyfriend. Challenging the order, an appeal was the brought before the  

The woman then filed a case in the family court in 2022 requesting for an acknowledgment of the fact that she is an unmarried single woman. The family court ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the case because of the absence of marriage taking place involving her and her previous live-in companion.  Challenging the order an appeal was then made by the woman aged 61 years in the High Court.

By relying on Section 7(1) explanation (b) of the Family Courts Act, the High Court held that a proceeding for declaring the validity of marriage as well as the marital status of a person falls under the purview or jurisdiction of the family court. The Court further determined that the woman’s case falls under the jurisdiction of the family court exclusively as, in accordance with Section 8 of the Family Courts Act, the jurisdictions specified by Section 7 are kept out of the civil courts’ jurisdiction.

Written by: Divyani Newar

College name: NEF Law College

5^th Semester, 3 Year LL.B.

An intern under Legal Vidhiya

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