Law Relating to Women and Children Notes | LL.B. (3 years) Semester 6 | Mumbai University | munotes

Contents

Module I Social, Constitutional and International legal status of Women.

1. The Status of Women in India Before Independence 1
2. Social and Legal Inequality: The Disabilities Women Lived Under 7
3. The Social Reform Movement in India 14
4. The Reform Laws, 1829 to 1947 20
5. Women in the National Movement and the Fight for the Vote 27
6. The Karachi Congress, the Fundamental Rights Resolution and the Equality of the Sexes 32
7. The Preamble and Women 37
8. Article 14: Equality Before Law, and Laws That Treat Women Differently 41
9. Article 15(1) and (2): No Discrimination on the Ground of Sex 46
10. Article 15(3): Special Provision for Women 51
11. Article 16: Women in Public Employment and the Armed Forces 57
12. Article 21: Life, Dignity, Privacy and the Right to Choose 62
13. The Directive Principles and Women 69
14. Reservation for Women in Panchayats and Municipalities 75
15. Women's Reservation in Parliament and the Assemblies: The One Hundred and Sixth Amendment 80
16. Gender Justice and the Constitution: The Landmark Judgments Weighed 85
17. Personal Laws in India, and Why They Treat Women Unequally 90
18. Hindu Marriage and Women: Conditions, Ceremonies and Registration 101
19. Bigamy, Void and Voidable Marriages, and the Second Wife and Her Child 110
20. Divorce Under the Hindu Marriage Act: The Grounds, the Wife's Own Grounds and Mutual Consent 121
21. Maintenance and Alimony for a Hindu Wife 135
22. Muslim Marriage and Women: Nikah, Mahr, Polygamy and Muta 144
23. The Option of Puberty, and the Muslim Wife's Grounds Under the 1939 Act 154
24. Talaq, Khula and Mubarat, Triple Talaq and the 2019 Act 162
25. Maintenance of Muslim Women: Mahr, Iddat, Shah Bano and the 1986 Act 176
26. Christian and Parsi Women: Marriage, Divorce and Alimony 187
27. Maintenance Under Section 144 of the BNSS: The Secular Remedy 197
28. Succession and the Hindu Woman: From Limited Estate to Coparcener 206
29. Succession and Muslim, Christian and Parsi Women 216
30. The Special Marriage Act 1954: Conditions, Notice, Objections and Registration 224
31. The Special Marriage Act 1954: Succession, Void Marriages, Divorce and Alimony 233
32. The Uniform Civil Code Towards Gender Justice 242
33. The Uniform Civil Code in Practice: Goa, Uttarakhand and the Law Commission 250
34. Women and the Three New Criminal Laws 258
35. Rape: The Offence in Section 63 264
36. Punishing Rape: Sections 64 to 66, 70 and 71 271
37. Intercourse by a Separated Husband, a Person in Authority, or by Deceit: Sections 67 to 69 279
38. Protecting the Survivor's Identity: Sections 72 and 73 286
39. Assault on Modesty, Sexual Harassment, Voyeurism and Stalking: Sections 74 to 79 292
40. Dowry Death and Cruelty: Sections 80, 85 and 86 300
41. Offences Relating to Marriage: Sections 81 to 84 and 87 309
42. Miscarriage, Acid Attacks, Importation of Girls and Trafficking 316
43. Women and Criminal Procedure: The Safeguards in the BNSS 324
44. Women and the Law of Evidence: The Presumptions and Protections of the BSA 333
45. CEDAW: How the Convention Came About and How It Is Built 340
46. CEDAW Articles 1 to 6: Discrimination Defined and What States Must Do 346
47. CEDAW Articles 7 to 16: Public Life, Nationality, Education, Work, Health and the Family 352
48. The CEDAW Committee, Reports and General Recommendations 358
49. The Optional Protocol to CEDAW 1999 364
50. India and CEDAW: The Declarations, the Reservation and the Courts 370

Module II Women Welfare Laws

1. Sex Selection, and Why the PCPNDT Act Was Made 377
2. The PCPNDT Act: What Is Regulated and What Is Prohibited 383
3. The PCPNDT Act: Supervisory Boards and Appropriate Authorities 393
4. The PCPNDT Act: Registration, Offences, Penalties and Enforcement 402
5. Abortion and the Law: The Sanhita's Offence and the MTP Act's Exception 414
6. The MTP Act: When a Pregnancy May Be Terminated 423
7. The MTP Act: Place, Emergency, Privacy, Rules and Protection 432
8. The MTP Act Before the Courts: Reproductive Autonomy 440
9. The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act 1986 449
10. Indecency, Obscenity and the Courts 456
11. Sexual Harassment at Work Before 2013: Vishaka and the Guidelines 466
12. The POSH Act: Who Is Protected, What Is a Workplace, What Is Harassment 474
13. The POSH Act: The Internal Committee and the Local Committee 481
14. The POSH Act: Complaint, Conciliation, Inquiry and Interim Relief 488
15. The POSH Act: Report, Action, False Complaints, Compensation, Confidentiality and Appeal 495
16. The POSH Act: The Employer's Duties, Penalties and Enforcement 502
17. Dowry: The Problem, and What the Law Means by It 510
18. The Dowry Prohibition Act: Offences, the Wife's Property and the Officers 517
19. Dowry Law Before the Courts, and How Effective It Has Been 525
20. Why India Needed a Civil Law on Domestic Violence 532
21. The DV Act: Aggrieved Person, Respondent, Domestic Relationship and Shared Household 537
22. What Domestic Violence Means: Section 3 545
23. The DV Act: Protection Officers, Service Providers and Everyone's Duties 551
24. The DV Act: The Application, Notice, Counselling, Procedure and Appeal 557
25. The Right to Reside and Residence Orders: Sections 17 and 19 564
26. Protection, Monetary, Custody, Compensation and Interim Orders 572
27. The DV Act: Breach, Penalties, Saving Clauses and the Act's Record 579
28. Trafficking, Prostitution and the Shape of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 585
29. The ITPA Offences: Brothels, Earnings, Procuring, Detaining and Soliciting 591
30. The ITPA Machinery: Police, Search, Rescue, Protective Homes and Special Courts 599
31. Trafficking and Sex Work Before the Courts, and the Wider Law 607
32. The Maternity Benefit Act 1961: Its Objects, Its Scheme, and Its Repeal 615
33. Maternity Benefit Since 21 November 2025: Chapter VI of the Code on Social Security 624
34. Women Workers Under the Factories Act 1948, and Its Repeal 632
35. Women Workers Under the OSH Code, and the Challenges Women Face at Work 640
36. The National Commission for Women: Why It Exists and How It Is Constituted 649
37. The NCW's Functions and Powers, and How Well It Works 654

Module III Social, Constitutional and International legal status of Child

1. Who Is a Child? The Many Ages of Childhood in Indian Law 661
2. Deferred Infanticide: The Girl Child and Biased Nutrition 667
3. Female Foeticide and Infanticide 672
4. The Girl Child: The Discrimination She Faces, Stage by Stage, and the Law at Each Stage 678
5. Child Labour: The Socio-Legal Problem 684
6. Regulating the Employment of Children: From 1881 to 1986 690
7. The National Commissions on Labour and Child Labour 695
8. The Child in the Constitution: Article 15(3), the Directive Principles and the Duties 700
9. Article 21A: The Fundamental Right to Education 705
10. Articles 23 and 24: Trafficking, Forced Labour and Children in Hazardous Work 711
11. Articles 28, 29 and 350A: Religion, Culture and the Mother Tongue in School 717
12. Article 243G and the Eleventh Schedule: The Panchayat and the Child 723
13. State Responsibility for the Education of Children 727
14. Constitutional Safeguards to Children, and What the Courts Have Done With Them 732
15. Children and Criminal Responsibility: Sections 20 and 21 of the Sanhita 738
16. Offences Against Children in the Sanhita 744
17. The Juvenile Justice Act 2015: Its Two Kinds of Children and Its Principles 751
18. The Child in Conflict With Law: The Juvenile Justice Board, Apprehension and Bail 756
19. The Child in Conflict With Law: Inquiry, Preliminary Assessment and Orders 768
20. The Child in Need of Care and Protection: The Child Welfare Committee 776
21. Rehabilitation: Restoration, Institutions, Foster Care, Sponsorship and After Care 785
22. Offences Against Children Under the Juvenile Justice Act 791
23. The POCSO Act 2012: The Offences 797
24. The POCSO Act 2012: Reporting, Statements, Special Courts and Trial 804
25. Adoption Under HAMA: The Requisites, and Who May Adopt, Give and Be Adopted 811
26. Adoption Under HAMA: Effects, Proof and Prohibited Payments 817
27. Adoption Beyond Hindu Law: The Juvenile Justice Act 823
28. Maintenance Under HAMA: Wife, Children, Aged Parents, Widowed Daughter-in-Law and Dependants 828
29. The Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act 1956 833
30. Guardianship and Custody Under Muslim Law and the Guardians and Wards Act 838
31. Legitimacy of a Child 843
32. The Child in the Law of Torts 848
33. The Child in Contract and Partnership Law 856
34. International Concern for Children: The Declarations of 1924 and 1959 862
35. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989: Scheme and the Four General Principles 866
36. The CRC: The Rights of the Child 870
37. The CRC: The Committee, the Optional Protocols, and India 874
38. The ILO and the Minimum Age Convention 1973 878
39. UNICEF and the Welfare of Children 882
40. UNESCO and the Education of Children 885

Module IV Special Legislation for the Protection of Children

1. Child Marriage: The Problem, and the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 889
2. The PCMA: Voidable and Void Child Marriages, and the Girl's Protection 896
3. The PCMA: Offences, Injunctions and Child Marriage Prohibition Officers 904
4. Child Marriage Before the Courts, and the Personal Law Problem 913
5. The RTE Act 2009: The Right, the Child and the Neighbourhood School 927
6. The RTE Act: Duties of Governments, Local Authorities and Parents 937
7. The RTE Act: Admission, the Twenty-Five Per Cent Seats, Capitation, Screening and Holding Back 947
8. The RTE Act: Protection of the Child, Recognition, Standards and Teachers 958
9. The RTE Act: Curriculum, Monitoring and Redress 970
10. The Right to Education Before the Courts 981
11. The Right to Food, and Why the National Food Security Act Was Made 993
12. The NFSA: The Entitlements of Households, Women and Children 1003
13. The NFSA: Grievance Redressal, Obligations, Transparency and Accountability 1015
14. The Child and Adolescent Labour Act 1986 and Its 2016 Overhaul 1028
15. The Prohibition and Its Exceptions: Sections 3, 3A, 4 and 5 1039
16. Regulating the Work of Adolescents: Sections 6 to 13 1050
17. Penalties, Rehabilitation and Enforcement: Sections 14 to 19 1061
18. The Commissions for Protection of Child Rights: Constitution and Membership 1074
19. The Commissions' Functions and Powers, and Children's Courts 1085
20. The Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act 1956, Its Repeal, and the Law Since 1097
21. The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act and Children 1108
22. The Bombay Prevention of Begging Act 1959: What Begging Is, and Detention 1122
23. The Bombay Begging Act: Using Others to Beg, the Institutions, and the Begging Child 1135
24. Begging, the Constitution and the Courts 1149
25. Who Enforces the Rights of Women and Children: Courts, Commissions and NGOs 1164