Restitution of conjugal rights — what it is and when to file
Restitution of conjugal rights under Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 — and its analogues in Section 22 of the Special Marriage Act, 1954, Sections 32-33 of the Divorce Act, 1869 (Christian) and Section 36 of the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936 — is the oldest surviving English-origin matrimonial remedy in Indian law. Saroj Rani v Sudarshan Kumar , (1984) 4 SCC 90 upheld Section 9 against Article 14 and Article 21 challenge, resolving the conflict between T Sareetha v T Venkata Subbaiah , AIR 1983 AP 356 and Harvinder Kaur v Harmander Singh Choudhry , AIR 1984 Del 66. After K S Puttaswamy v Union of India , (2017) 10 SCC 1 and Joseph Shine v Union of India , (2018) 11 SCC 676, the question is open again — the pending writ in Ojaswa Pathak v Union of India before the Supreme Court asks whether the doctrine survives the new privacy and autonomy jurisprudence.