Wife can't be simply evicted from home after divorce: SC

Hindu woman cannot be evicted
out of the matrimonial home after divorce except through
procedure established by law, as there is no provision for her
automatic eviction, the Supreme Court has ruled.
A bench of justices G S Singhvi and S D Mukhopadhyay, in
a judgement, said that though a woman may not have a legal
right to continue in the house of the ex-husband, yet the
latter cannot forcibly evict her.
The apex court gave the ruling while upholding an appeal
filed by Ranjit Kaur challenging the decisions of the Punjab
and Haryana High Court which had upheld her eviction from the
house of a disputed property upon a decree of divorce granted
to the husband Major Harmohinder Singh, an Army officer.
"Learned counsel is right in his submission that even
though in the decree of divorce, the appellant has not been
given a right of residence and her occupation of the suit
property can be treated as unauthorised, respondent No 1
(Singh) cannot evict her except after following the procedure
established by law.
"The material placed on record shows that the appellant
had entered into the property as the wife of respondent No. 1.
Therefore, even though, after passing of the decree of the
divorce she may not have a legal right to continue to remain
in possession of the suit property, respondent No. 1 cannot be
given liberty to forcibly evict her," the bench said
The apex court, however, rejected the plea of the woman
that Singh should be restrained from alienating the suit
property (house).
The couple were staying at the disputed property in SAS
Nagar, Mohali. They were married in 1978.
A decree of divorce was granted on October 4, 2001, in
favour of the husband who had filed a petition under Section
13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, for dissolution of
marriage on the ground of cruelty.
The high court while confirming the divorce held that
once the decree was passed, matrimonial relationship between
the parties ceased and, therefore, the wife could not continue
to occupy the house owned by husband as a matter of right.