A new book traces landmark cases that have tried to ensure equality for women in marriage

The coalition against the Emergency provided a newfound legitimacy to what were until then nascent and fringe political outfits. The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party came into existence in its current form in 1980 and won two seats in the 1984 elections. Through the decade, it worked to cultivate a Hindu vote bank, creating, strengthening and capitalising on anti-minority resentments felt in sections of the majority community.

The issue of personal laws had been a point of contention within sections of the Hindu community for decades. Personal law is a specific area of law that covers family matters (marriage, divorce, custody, inheritance) by applying different rules to different religious communities in accordance with their beliefs. While Hindu law was reformed through various statutes in the 1950s to make it more gender equal, Muslim personal law was not changed because the government felt that the Muslims who had stayed in India after Partition needed reassurance, and reform at that stage could have led to instability.

The 1951 Bombay High Court decision in State of Bombay v. Narasu Appa Mali (hereinafter referred to as Narasu) was an early indication of this tension. The state had passed a law called the Bombay Prevention of Hindu Bigamous Marriages Act, 1946,...

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