The numerous disparate traditions and practices that existed throughout Hindu India were brought together, codified, and partly harmonized with a more modern constitutional tradition articulated by the ruling British. Women demonstrated last summer for a proposal to ensure women one-third of seats in Parliament. The bill is still being considered. For example, legally, crimes of rape and adultery are considered crimes against the husband if the woman is married. In cases of adultery brought by a husband, the wife is not allowed to speak in court.
Property rights remain mainly with males in the family.
Even in the Hariharan ruling, the mother is not accorded absolute equal status with the husband. She is given the status of natural guardian in cases where the father is absent, delinquent, or abusive, and where she can argue her custody is in the best interest of the child. Yet even the reforms of Prime Minister Nehru have not weathered the social and legal developments of the past 40 years, particularly the claims made by women in the West who have fought in courts and legislatures for equal status. India is still struggling with orthodox personal laws. Hindus, Muslims, and Christians each have their own special laws that govern family relations and religious practices.