Chennai: An aged couple, who do not want to be branded as criminals by retaining the shridhana’ property of their daughter-in-law, after their son divorced her, got reprieve with the Madras high court directing a lower court, which returned their application, to take the case on file and pass orders on it, which would enable them to return the property to their daughter-in-law.
Disposing of a petition filed by S.P.G. Sundaram and V.Kaveri, Justice S.Vimala directed the Sub-Court, Tambaram, to take the case on file and pass orders on merits as per law and after hearing both sides, within one month.
“We do not want to be branded as criminals, especially, when we are happy to be known as law abiding citizens”- so saying the father-in-law and mother-in-law (petitioners) of the daughter-in-law filed an application before the sub-court, Tambaram, seeking appointment of an advocate commissioner for taking inventory of the articles and to place them to the custody of the court, for passing suitable order for due return of those articles to the parties concerned.
When the Supreme Court pointed out that in family matters, pending lis causes emotional fragmentation and delay can feed it to grow, why the matrimonial court declined to entertain the reasonable request of the in-laws over the property to the daughter-in-law, is the issue raised in this case, said Justice Vimala.
“It is a classic case of irritable, irksome and unrelenting priests even when the presiding deity is ready with a boon to the devotee, as though the law provided the space but not the court. Procrastination can be the greatest assassin of the lis in matrimonial matters. The battle to get back the shridhana property is a never ending battle for daughter-in-law is the history written so far. When such is the order of the day and when the in-laws come forward to return the property to the daughter-in-law, the court has declined to entertain the petition, which is under challenge in this petition.” When family members of the husband has filed the application to return the shridhana property, the court should have welcomed it, Justice Vimala said.
