Financial empowerment of women way to a stronger society, says Supreme Court Justice Nagarathna

The Supreme Court on Wednesday emphasised at the crucial need for financial stability and empowerment of married women in India, in its judgement upholding the rights of divorced Muslim women to seek maintenance under the secular law.

Justice B V Nagarathna called for an urgent need for change so that the services and sacrifices of homemakers for the economic well-being of the family, and the economy of the nation, are duly acknowledged.

She flagged the vulnerability of women who lack independent sources of income and access to financial resources, particularly for their personal expenses.

She said that Indian married men must become conscious of the fact that they have to financially empower and provide for their wives, who do not have an independent source of income. “Such financial empowerment would place such a vulnerable wife in a more secure position in the family,” she said.

Justice Nagarathna also stressed at the need for acknowledgment of Indian men who are already conscious of this responsibility and make their financial resources available for their spouses' personal expenses, possibly through joint bank accounts or ATM cards.

“Both 'financial security' as well as 'security of residence' of Indian women have to be protected and enhanced that would truly empower such Indian women who are referred to as 'homemakers' and who are the strength and backbone of an Indian family, which is the fundamental unit of Indian society that has to be maintained and strengthened,” she wrote in her judgment.

She said it goes without saying that a stable family which is emotionally connected and secure gives stability to society, for it is within the family that precious values of life are learnt and built.