New Delhi: Senior CPI-M leader Brinda Karat welcomed the Supreme Court judgement Thursday striking down a colonial-era anti-adultery law which treated women as "property of husbands".

She also noted that aggrieved wife of an adulterous husband can move the court against court.

"I welcome the judgement as it strikes down the law which considered women as the property of men", Karat, a CPI-M politburo member, told PTI.

"At the same time the aggrieved wife of an adulterous husband can take recourse to laws against cruelty and also for compensation under the domestic violence prevention act", she said. "Adultery remains a ground for divorce".

Declaring that adultery is not a crime, the apex court struck down the law, saying it was unconstitutional, dented the individuality of women and treated them as "chattel of husbands".