Malavika Rajkotia Explained

Malavika Rajkotia is an Indian lawyer. She joined the Bar in 1985 and developed a practice with a focus on family and property law. She has handled several high profile and complex divorce and property disputes across various courts of the country.

She has been called one of the country's most successful divorce lawyers, and has handled several celebrity cases, including the divorce of Omar Abdullah.[1] Rajkotia is the founder of Rajkotia Associates, a leading multidisciplinary law firm specialising in matrimonial and property laws.[2] She is the author of Intimacy Undone: Law of Marriage, Divorce and Family in India.[3] The book explores the socio-economic and legal aspects of family law in India and has been called a tour de force.[4] It has also been critically acclaimed for its focus on issues faced by judges, lawyers and client's in the area of family law by weaving a compelling story interspersed with accounts of Rajkotia's experiences as a lawyer and incorporating nuanced perspectives from law, history, psychology, literature and mythology.[5] [6] She is also the author of Unpartitioned Time: A Daughter's Story,[7] published by Speaking Tiger in July, 2024.

Education

Rajkotia studied at Welham Girls' School in Dehradun.[8] After completing a bachelor's degree in political science from Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi, she pursued her law degree from Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi.

Work

In addition to arguing several notable family law cases, she has argued for the custody rights of mothers facing domestic violence in foreign jurisdictions with regard to the best interest of the child[9] and for the liberal interpretation of the doctrine of 'intimate and closest concern' in the context of international custody cases.[10] Given that India does not statutorily recognise the principle of 'no-fault' in contested divorce cases, she has argued for the lowering of the threshold of 'fault' in the grant of divorce, in recognition of the right to privacy and autonomy of an individual.[11] Rajkotia has advocated for an understanding of family law that does not blindly revere marriage as sacred, but instead acknowledges a more contractual arrangement, as sacredness cannot obliterate the individual's right to exit the wedlock for a just cause.[12]

Rajkotia has handled numerous celebrity cases and stated that even though the voyeuristic interest in celebrity cases is higher, the proceedings are no different from a regular case.[13] She has asserted against the perception of family law as a 'soft law', stating that it is a subject of marvellous complexity that has the potential to reform the very base of society.[14] In 2011, a judge in one of her cases remarked that divorce lawyers were responsible for prolonging divorce litigation. Objecting to this claim, Rajkotia penned a letter addressed to the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, stating that such a view showed a lack of understanding of the complex dynamics of matrimonial conflict. She then decided to elaborate on this notion in her book, Intimacy Undone, instead of sending the letter.[15]

She has worked on issues such as the protection of civil liberties from procedural laws,[16] gender rights, human rights and environmental concerns with various NGOs like Sakshi and IFSHA. She has also lectured at the National Law University of Delhi and spoken at the Judicial Academy, in Ranchi and Delhi on family law and gender sensitisation of judges.

Rajkotia was a part of the Lady Shri Ram college dramatics society and was an amateur theatre actor before choosing to pursue law full time. She worked in hindi theatre with her teacher Sheila Bhatia of Delhi Art Theatre.[17] In addition to her work as a lawyer, she has worked in about thirty Hindi and English productions.

Commentary

Rajkotia has advocated for the concept of matrimonial property and equitable distribution in family and property law cases and has written on issues of gender,[18] privacy in family law,[19] marital rape[20] the Uniform Civil Code in India,[21] triple talaq,[22] [23] child rights[24] and adultery.[25]

Personal life

Rajkotia was born to a Sikh family in Karnal and lives in Delhi with her son and daughter. She was the anchor on Shakti, the first television talk show in India that focused on women's rights and acted in two episodes of a television law-based serial, Bhanwar".[26]

Bibliography

Books

"Intimacy Undone: Law of Marriage, Divorce and Family in India" Speaking Tiger Books, 2017.[27]

"Unpartitioned Time: A Daughter's Story" Speaking Tiger Books, 2024.[28]

Articles

Rajkotia has also written articles for publications such as India Today, The Hindustan Times and The Week:

Notes and References

  1. News: Staff Reporter . 2018-03-01 . Marriage broken irretrievably, Omar Abdullah tells Delhi High Court . en-IN . The Hindu . 2022-04-14 . 0971-751X.
  2. Web site: Home - Rajkotia Associates Advocates. Rajkotia Associates Advocates. en-US. 2017-11-25.
  3. Book: Amazon listing. .
  4. Menski . Werner . July 2018 . Book Review: Malavika Rajkotia, Intimacy Undone. Marriage, Divorce and Family Law in India . South Asia Research . en . 38 . 2 . 202–204 . 10.1177/0262728018768949 . 149773959 . 0262-7280.
  5. News: Book review: Analysing marriage in contemporary India. 2017-05-05. asianage.com/. 2017-11-25.
  6. Web site: 2017-08-02 . Book Review- 'Intimacy Undone- Marriage, Divorce and Family Law in India' . 2022-04-14 . VIKALP . en-US.
  7. Web site: 2024-06-11 . Unpartitioned Time - Speaking Tiger Books . 2024-07-03 . en-US.
  8. Sambasivam . Padmini . Innovation and Thought Leadership . Mentor Magazine . January 2017 . 10 . 8 . 12 . 5 April 2023.
  9. Nithya Anand vs. State of NCT of Delhi and Ors.https://indiankanoon.org/doc/53310178/
  10. Mrs. Kanika Goel vs The State Of Delhi

    https://indiankanoon.org/doc/182690117/

  11. Web site: 721 Malavika Rajkotia, Thinking privacy in family law . 2022-04-15 . www.india-seminar.com.
  12. News: The intimate legal tangles . The New Indian Express . 2017-11-25.
  13. News: David . Ruth . India's Celebrity Divorces . en . Forbes . 2017-11-25.
  14. Web site: "The First Thing We Do, Let's Kill All The Lawyers" – Rajkotia Associates Advocates . 2022-04-15 . en-US.
  15. Book: Rajkotia . Malavika . Intimacy Undone: Marriage, Divorce and Family Law in India . 2017 . Speaking Tiger Books . 978-9354472978. My stung reaction was to write an open letter to the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court - which I never sent because, to my surprise, it grew into this book..
  16. Sumer Singh Salkan vs Ranjeet Narayan https://indiankanoon.org/doc/24446025/
  17. Web site: Interview With Malavika Rajkotia : www.MumbaiTheatreGuide.com . 2017-11-25 . www.mumbaitheatreguide.com . en.
  18. Web site: 2017-03-08 . 'With both genders wanting to break away from the stereotype, this results in increasing stress.' . 2022-04-15 . India Legal . en-US.
  19. Web site: Thinking Privacy in Family Law – Rajkotia Associates Advocates . 2022-04-15 . en-US.
  20. Web site: Let the law prevail, not doubts . 2022-04-15 . theweek.in.
  21. Web site: The Law Commission's Questionnaire on Uniform Civil Code – Rajkotia Associates Advocates . 2022-04-15 . en-US.
  22. Web site: 2017-06-02 . The case against abolitionists . 2022-04-15 . The Indian Express . en.
  23. Malavika Rajkotia . 7 January 2018 . Why Modi govt's Triple Talaq Bill is divorced from reality faced by Muslim women . 2022-04-15 . India Today . en.
  24. Web site: Should we Sign the Hague Convention? – Rajkotia Associates Advocates . 2022-04-15 . en-US.
  25. Web site: 2017-03-05 . Sexless marriage chalta hai? Book discusses loopholes in Indian divorce law . 2022-04-15 . www.mid-day.com . en.
  26. Web site: Malavika Rajkotia – Rajkotia Associates Advocates. 2021-01-05. en-US.
  27. Book: Rajkotia, Malavika . Intimacy Undone: Marriage, Divorce and Family Law In India . 2017-02-15 . . 9789386582072 . en.
  28. Web site: 2024-06-11 . Unpartitioned Time - Speaking Tiger Books . 2024-07-03 . en-US.
  29. Web site: Let the law prevail, not doubts. theweek.in.
  30. Web site: The case against abolitionists. 2 June 2017.
  31. Why Modi govt's Triple Talaq Bill is divorced from reality faced by Muslim women. Malavika Rajkotia . 7 January 2018 . India Today.
  32. Web site: Thinking Privacy in Family Law – Rajkotia Associates Advocates.
  33. Web site: The Law and The Mob – Rajkotia Associates Advocates.
  34. Web site: The Law Commission's Questionnaire on Uniform Civil Code – Rajkotia Associates Advocates.
  35. Web site: Should we Sign the Hague Convention? – Rajkotia Associates Advocates.
  36. Web site: "The First Thing We Do, Let's Kill All The Lawyers" – Rajkotia Associates Advocates. https://web.archive.org/web/20201026012204/https://rajkotiaassociates.in/the-first-thing-we-do-lets-kill-all-the-lawyers/. dead. 26 October 2020.
  37. Web site: 'With both genders wanting to break away from the stereotype, this results in increasing stress.'. India. Legal. 8 March 2017.

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