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Having thus found that Section 303 of the Indian Penal Code is arbitrary and unconstitutional, their Lordships struck down the said provision from the Code.

23. Mr. P. Chithambaram then cited a Full Bench decision of this Court in Mary Sonia v. Union of India, (1995(1) Ker LT 644(FB). In the above case, the constitutional validity of Section 10 of the Indian Divorce Act which regulated divorce among Christians in India for a century and a quarter was challenged. In the two Original Petitions, at the instance of two Christian women, the challenge was that the provisions in Section 10 are violative of the fundamental rights guaranteed to them and other similarly situated Christian women under Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution of India. In the case of one petitioner, who is a Syrian Christian governed by the Act, she was married to one Zachariah according to the customary rites and ceremonies of the church and a daughter was born out of the said wedlock. She pleaded that her husband has taken a irreversible decision to live with an English lady whom he met while in Nairobi, where he was employed, deserting her and her child once and for all and that her husband has not cared to cohabitate with her or to perform any of the marital obligations and to maintain her and her daughter. Another petitioner also a Christian governed by the Act was married according to the rites, ceremonies and customs of the church and after sometime the husband had deserted with the intention of abandoning her permanently against her wish. The conduct of the husband towards her was very cruel and she was also subjected to insults and accusations of adulterous conduct even in the presence of public, her colleagues etc. Therefore, these insults and absuses made the continuance of the marital life impossible. Before filing the Original Petition before this Court, she filed an OP in the District Court under Section 22 of the Act for a decree of judicial separation on the ground of cruelly and desertion. The District Judge found the husband guilty of cruelly and desertion and has granted a decree for judicial separation. The petitioner had alleged that in spite of lapse of more than two years, there has not been resumption of cohabitation and there is not even an iota of chance for reconciliation. She further alleged that even though there is no chance of reconciliation, it may not be possible to get a divorce since desertion and cruelty are not recognised as grounds for divorce unless adultery is also alleged and proved by her. It is, in the circumstances, that the petitioners have challenged the constitutional validity of Section 10 of Indian Divorce Act. Both the petitioners have thus contended that Section 10 of the Divorce Act, insofar as it makes 'adultery' also necessary to be established along with cruelty and desertion as a ground for divorce, is arbitrary and violative of Articles 14, 15, 19and21 of the Constitution of India. Petitioners have further contended that Section 10 of the Act insofar as it incorporates the word 'incestuous' before the word 'adultery' thereby making an aggravated form of adultery alone as aground for divorce for Christian women whereas all other Indians including Christian men are entitled to get divorce on the ground of 'adultery simpliciter' is violativeof Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution of India.

27. The further question as to whether the provision will be valid in the light of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, the Full Bench has referred to various judgments reported in Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India. AIR 1978 SC 597, Bangalore M.T. v. Mudduppa, (AIR 1991 SC 1902) : 1991 AIR SCC 2002, Francis v. Administrator, AIR 1981 SC 746 ; (1981 Cri I J 306) and Ramsharan v. Union of India. 1989 Supp (1) SCC 251 ; (AIR 1989 SC 549). The observations made in the above judgments would clearly indicate that the right guaranteed under Article 21 is a right to full enjoyment of life maintaining the quality of life and dignity of the individual in all respect which would also include the protection of a person's tradition, culture, heritage and all that give meaning to man's life. The Full Bench, after elaborate discussion, found that the impugned provisions are violative of the provisions contained in Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution. Ultimately, the Full Bench struck down the words and phrases 'incestuous' and 'adultery coupled with' occurring in Section 10 as ultra vires and allowed the remaining portion to remain valid along with the rest of the provisions as, according to them, the offending provision cannot be treated as inextricably connected with the remaining portion.