Justice Surya Kant’s remarks renew India’s push for gender-equal family law grounded in dignity, empathy, and constitutional values.
New Delhi (ABC Live): Marriage in India has always been more than a personal contract; it is a reflection of how the Republic balances faith, family, and fundamental rights. Yet despite decades of reform, family law continues to bear traces of patriarchy, slow procedures, and unequal access. With over 1.14 million pending cases in family courts, justice often arrives too late to heal.
Against this backdrop, Supreme Court Justice Surya Kant’s recent address at the Delhi High Court cuts to the heart of the issue: marriage, he said, has too often been “an instrument of subjugation against women.” His appeal — to transform it into a partnership rooted in dignity, equality, and mutual respect — re-centres family law within India’s constitutional promise of justice and gender parity.
Judicial Insight: Re-defining Marriage Beyond Tradition
Speaking at a seminar on “Cross-Cultural Perspectives: Emerging Trends and Challenges in Family Law in England and India,” Justice Kant remarked:
“Across continents, cultures and eras, marriage has too often been misused as an instrument of subjugation against women. Contemporary legal and social reforms are gradually transforming marriage from a site of inequality into a pious partnership grounded in dignity, mutual respect, and constitutional values of equality.”
The observation reframes family law as a moral and constitutional frontier — one where empathy and evidence must converge.
Family Law: The Junction of Emotion, Morality, and Justice
“Family courts are often perceived as spaces charged with emotion and somehow less rigorous than criminal or public law practice. I could not disagree more,”
— Justice Surya Kant
He described family law as “governing our most intimate relationships while reflecting our cultural ethos and constitutional values.” It is, he said, the living mirror of society’s conscience.
Historical Context: From Sacrament to Civil Institution
Justice Kant compared England’s secular evolution with India’s plural path.
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In England, family law moved from ecclesiastical oversight to secular fairness.
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In India, marriage began as a sanskara — a sacred union — before being codified under diverse personal laws.
Post-Independence statutes such as the Hindu Marriage Act (1955) and the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act (1986) sought to reconcile faith traditions with constitutional equality, producing a hybrid legal mosaic unique to India.
Milestones in Gender-Just Jurisprudence
Justice Kant highlighted pivotal judgments that reshaped Indian family law:
| Case | Year | Key Principle Affirmed |
|---|---|---|
| Shayara Bano v. Union of India | 2017 | Triple talaq unconstitutional |
| Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma | 2020 | Daughters’ equal coparcenary rights |
| Suchita Srivastava v. Chandigarh Administration | 2009 | Reproductive autonomy under Article 21 |
He also cited England’s Miller v. Miller and White v. White, which established equality of contribution between spouses, and the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020, which introduced no-fault divorce to end the culture of blame.
India’s Family-Law Caseload (2024–25): The Scale of the Challenge
Justice Kant’s philosophical call intersects with a sobering reality: more than 11.4 lakh family-law cases remain pending across India’s courts.
| State / UT | Functional Family Courts | Pending Cases | New (2023-24) | Disposed (2023-24) | Disposal Rate (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kerala | 29 | 1,11,667 | 41,203 | 37,950 | 92.1 |
| Delhi (NCT) | 6 | 51,663 | 23,412 | 19,287 | 82.3 |
| Haryana | 10 | 60,616 | 24,108 | 20,409 | 84.6 |
| Gujarat | 10 | 32,980 | 14,221 | 13,047 | 91.8 |
| Bihar | 14 | 70,365 | 27,339 | 23,460 | 85.8 |
| Telangana | 4 | 19,000 | 7,892 | 6,435 | 81.6 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 6 | 14,349 | 5,148 | 4,229 | 82.1 |
| Chhattisgarh | 5 | 19,893 | 6,007 | 5,332 | 88.8 |
| Assam | 3 | 7,399 | 2,385 | 2,041 | 85.6 |
| Karnataka | 9 | ≈ 1,95,000 (divorce petitions 2020-25) | — | — | — |
| All India Total (approx.) | ≈ 439 | ≈ 11.4 lakh (1.14 million) | — | — | — |
Sources: Department of Justice Dashboard (2024); Times of India (15 Mar 2023); Bangalore Mirror (7 Feb 2025); data.gov.in (2024)
Reading the Numbers
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Overburdened System: Each family court handles more than 2,500 cases on average.
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Unequal Distribution: Kerala, Bihar, and Haryana top the pendency charts.
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Gendered Delays: Maintenance, custody, and domestic-violence cases hit women hardest.
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Infrastructure Deficit: Hundreds of districts still lack family courts.
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Reform Imperative: Digital filings, ADR, and capacity expansion are vital to translate judicial philosophy into practice.
Cross-Border Families and Child Welfare
Justice Kant noted the rise in cross-border marriages and custody disputes, warning that Indian courts will not recognise foreign judgments “obtained by fraud or in violation of natural justice.”
In one case concerning a 22-year-old man with cognitive disability, the Court allowed him to stay with his mother abroad — reinforcing that the best interests of the child outweigh procedural rigidity.
Law as a Social Engineer
Concluding his address, Justice Kant said:
“Law must be a social engineer, responding to the felt necessities of time and the silent cry of the weak.”
He urged that family law “blossom with society, yet remain deeply attuned to the human condition.”
Why ABC Live Is Publishing This Report Now — and How It Is Unique
ABC Live publishes this analysis to show how one of India’s senior judges is redefining marriage and family law through a constitutional and comparative lens. By blending judicial philosophy with hard data on pendency, this report reveals that achieving gender justice demands both vision and institutional reform.
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