NEW DELHI: A high-level government panel has suggested that all movable and immovable assets acquired by a married couple or a couple living together be classified as joint property which would be divided equitably in the event of separation or desertion.

The

’s working group on

wants a comprehensive legislation — ‘

’ — to be brought in which would be applicable to all communities.

The panel, which wants a complete re-look at family laws, argued that all assets acquired by a couple should be viewed as joint property, regardless of who bought it. It said the law needed to recognize a woman as an equal partner with the husband and her contribution to the household should be appreciated.

The panel noted that apart from some reforms in the 1950s in Hindu law and some struggles around the issue of maintenance rights for Muslim women, family law reform had been totally neglected. “There is thus an urgent need to consider the enactment of a standalone comprehensive legislation, which will ensure that all assets that have been acquired by the family are divided in an equitable manner,” the group, headed by secretary, women and child development ministry, said in its report.

The committee, which had representative from the ministries of law and home, also suggested a review of laws related to maintenance to ensure that separated women and children got an adequate amount of maintenance and custody rights. It suggested removing all discriminatory provisions in existing laws that link a woman’s conduct with the grant of maintenance.

The panel argued that laws should be framed with a view to place the onus on the husband to prove his income and the quantum of maintenance awarded should enable the wife and children to live at the same standard of living that they have been used to.

It suggested that government should be made responsible for recovery of the maintenance amount, along with creation of a fund to pay the maintenance awarded by the court, particularly to poor litigants.