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Prevalence of gender biased laws and oppressive social practices over centuries have denied justice and basic human rights to Indian women. The need to establish the Family Courts was first emphasized by the late Smt. Durgabi Deshmukh. After a tour of China in 1953, where she had occasion to study the working of family courts, Smt. Deshmukh discussed the subject with Justice Chagla and Justice Gajendragadkar and then made a proposal to set up Family Courts in India to Prime Minister Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru.
Even after reformative legislation was enacted, implementation of reformed laws left much to be desired. Though the women of India demanded establishment of Family Courts in 1975, the Government of India took ten years to pass the necessary legislation. It is a matter of regret that, even though the Family Courts Act was passed in 1984, till today i.e. 1998, India's Capital does not have Family Courts. Such courts, however, are functioning in some states such as Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Orissa fairly satisfactorily.
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