‘Approach HC to remove limit of ‘one-hour phone use’

RANCHI: The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed a woman’s petition challenging an unusual restriction imposed on her by the Jharkhand high court through which she was ordered not to keep a separate mobile phone and allowed to talk to her relatives only for one-hour daily through her husband’s phone.

The apex court, however, has granted liberty to the woman to approach the high court again to get this restrictive clause removed.

A division bench of the Supreme Court, last week, had found that the high court passed a consent order in which the woman and her estranged husband agreed to follow four conditions for reconciliation of a matrimonial dispute between them.

“On a reading of the conditions, it appears that the intent is to seclude both petitioner and respondent (wife and husband) from interference in the matrimonial affairs by their respective parents. What is material is, it is a consent order which is so recorded,” the SC bench observed in its order.

But, the woman denied before the SC bench that she had ever given her consent to the condition limiting use of mobile phone by her. The apex court therefore granted liberty to her to raise the issue before the high court again.

Earlier in February, 2019, the woman’s husband, a government employee, had moved an application before the Jharkhand high court seeking anticipatory bail in connection with a criminal case lodged by his wife in 2016. While dealing with the anticipatory bail application, the high court bench of Justice AK Choudhary had found that the couple, who were physically present in the court, agreed to resume their conjugal life.

Accordingly the high court bench granted bail to the husband with the conditions that he would keep and maintain his wife with full honour and dignity as his lawful wife; the family members of the couple would not visit the residence of their stay; the husband will provide mobile phone to his wife for talking to her brothers and sisters for a maximum period of one hour daily and the wife would not keep any individual/separate mobile with her; and the husband will get his son admitted in a good and renowned school.