Women can't claim in-laws' property, rules court

A woman has right over the property of her husband but she cannot claim a property of her parents-in-law, ruled a Delhi court.

The court made the observation while dismissing an appeal of a government hospital doctor here, who sought right of residence in her mother-in-law's house in which her husband does not have any share.

"If it is anybody against whom or against whose property she can assert her rights, is the husband but under no circumstances can she thrust herself on the parents of her husband or can claim a right to live in their house against their consent and wishes," the court said in an order made available Sunday.

The court was hearing the appeal of the woman doctor who contended that her mother-in-law had abused and misused the process of law by making false submissions, and sought the trial court's order to be set aside.

She challenged the trial court's order, saying it did not appreciate the fact that her mother-in-law had in connivance with her husband dispossessed her from shared household accommodation in Delhi's Pitampura area.

The court noted that the woman's husband is working and residing separately in Chandigarh for the past several years.

"The matrimonial house of the appellant under the given circumstances is the place where her husband is working and residing, and not where she herself chose to reside of her free will," the court said.

The court observed that the petitioner is a working woman and is in a position to maintain herself being a doctor in a government hospital.