No cumbersome divorce proceedings, people of Ahmedabad opt for maitri karar contract

When marriages turn sour and men or women go after greener pastures, the going isn't always smooth. The after-taste lingers on. Divorce proceedings can stretch endlessly, and the social backlash can be equally debilitating. But that may no longer be true, at least in Gujarat where more and more people are adopting a novel formula to get around the problem.Till last month, Radheshyam Sharma, an Ahmedabad businessman, lived a quiet life with his 'wife' and three-year-old son in the heart of the city. The bubble finally burst when Sharma's legally married wife filed a bigamy suit under Section 494 of the Criminal Procedure Code in the Ahmedabad metropolitan magistrate's court. But there was a catch.Sharma had in fact never married the woman he was living with since they stay together on a contractual basis laid down in the registered companionship agreement they made with each other. In a similar vein, Narendra Solanki, a Harijan mother of three children, struck up a companionship contract with an unmarried man she fell in love with. They live a contented life in a congested part of the city with no interference from her separated husband.Features: Examples of similar liaisons abound throughout Ahmedabad. Rather than initiate or wait for cumbersome divorce proceedings to be decided, people of Ahmedabad are opting for a contract known as maitri karar (friendship contract). The document is in fact little more than a promise of friendship and companionship between a man and a woman at least one of whom is already married. In addition, a maitri karar invariably includes an undertaking by the man that he will look after and financially support his partner.Each agreement is tailor-made to suit the particular needs of the individuals who make it, but there are a number of common features. Every agreement puts down in detail the backgrounds and marital status of the lovers, and both parties state that they know the other's antecedents and have opted for the relationship out of free will. Some karars are even specific about the amount the man will pay for the upkeep of his partner. Some agreements even succeed in reflecting the nature of the relationship between the signatories.Public Opinion: Commonly known as the "kept-woman contract" in Ahmedabad, the maitri karar has more to it than just promises of everlasting love. An essential ingredient of most agreements is a clause which provides for the illegitimate offspring of such a union. "If in the course of our companionship," reads a euphemistic agreement, "we should make love together, and if of this love-making an offspring is born, then we shall be jointly responsible for that child". To ensure that there will be no questions about the child's paternity, a maitri karar will often state that any child born while the agreement is in force shall be brought up and cared for by the man. Says Dinesh Desai, a lawyer: "The maitri karar may be an extralegal arrangement with few real benefits for the woman but one real advantage is that the children born of the relationship are cared for because they know whom to claim maintenance from."In spite of the growing popularity of karar agreements, public opinion in the city is very much against the contracts. Claiming that the contract is only a meaningless palliative for gullible women, women's groups have started active campaigns against it. Feminist lawyers argue that this is an illegal agreement which circumvents the process of law and leaves the woman with no rights or benefits in return. The agreement is so loosely worded that even under the law of contracts she has no rights to compensation. .preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}For the generally puritanical city of Ahmedabad, maitri karar is India's first step toward achieving a higher standard of sinning. Published By: AtMigration Published On: Oct 24, 2013--- ENDS ---

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No cumbersome divorce proceedings, people of Ahmedabad opt for maitri karar contract

When marriages turn sour and men or women go after greener pastures, the going isn't always smooth. The after-taste lingers on. Divorce proceedings can stretch endlessly, and the social backlash can be equally debilitating.

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