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Top court overturns Calcutta HC ruling, saying the law entitles divorced Muslim women to reclaim all marital gifts and property given to the groom

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The Supreme Court of India has ruled that gifts given by a bride’s parents to a Muslim groom at the time of marriage must be returned to the woman if the couple divorces, in a judgment aimed at countering what the court called persistent patriarchal discrimination, reported The Times of India on Thursday.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and N.K. Singh overturned a Calcutta High Court decision that had allowed a man to keep gifts received from his father-in-law. The judges held that such property falls within the ambit of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986.

“The Constitution prescribes an aspiration for equality which is yet to be achieved,” the court said, adding that judicial reasoning must be rooted in social-justice principles. The Act, the bench said, must be interpreted in a way that prioritises “equality, dignity and autonomy,” particularly given that “inherent patriarchal discrimination is still the order of the day” in many smaller towns and rural areas.

Under Section 3 of the 1986 law, a divorced Muslim woman is entitled to all property given to her before, during or after marriage by her own relatives, the husband, or the husband’s relatives and friends. The court said this includes mehr (dower) and any other gifts, clearing the way for women to reclaim such items from former spouses.

The ruling is expected to have a significant impact on divorce-related property disputes in Muslim communities, reinforcing women’s financial rights at the time of marital dissolution.