Disputing a London Court's competence to hear a divorce case related to a marriage under Hindu Personal Law, Bombay HC says domicile at the time of marriage should decide jurisdiction and not domicile at the time of initiating divorce
Once a couple marries under the Hindu Marriage Act, they can only get a divorce under the same law even if they are no longer Indian citizens, the Bombay high court has held. Hearing a petition filed by a man against his wife, both British nationals of Indian origin and doctors, a division bench of Justices Vijaya Kapse Tahilramani and V L Achliya recently upheld a family court order granting interim custody of the couple's 3.5-year-old daughter to the woman.
Dr Seema Deshpande, who had come back to India with her daughter in 2012, had filed a petition before the Bandra family court seeking divorce and the child's custody. Dr Vinod Ranade, her husband, claimed that a London court had ordered the child's return to the UK.
Ranade's lawyers had claimed that since all three were UK citizens, their domicile was in that country. The HC, however, said that prima facie the wife seemed to have returned to her original domicile in India. The court said that Ranade could submit evidence on domicile before the family court. It also pointed to Supreme Court judgments that held that the domicile at the time of marriage and not at the time of initiating legal proceedings would matter. The HC refused to disturb the family court order granting interim custody to Seema.
Once a couple marries under the Hindu Marriage Act, they can only get a divorce under the same law even if they are no longer Indian citizens, the Bombay high court has held. Hearing a petition filed by a man against his wife, both British nationals of Indian origin and doctors, a division bench of Justices Vijaya Kapse Tahilramani and V L Achliya recently upheld a family court order granting interim custody of the couple's 3.5-year-old daughter to the woman.
Dr Seema Deshpande, who had come back to India with her daughter in 2012, had filed a petition before the Bandra family court seeking divorce and the child's custody. Dr Vinod Ranade, her husband, claimed that a London court had ordered the child's return to the UK.
Ranade's lawyers had claimed that since all three were UK citizens, their domicile was in that country. The HC, however, said that prima facie the wife seemed to have returned to her original domicile in India. The court said that Ranade could submit evidence on domicile before the family court. It also pointed to Supreme Court judgments that held that the domicile at the time of marriage and not at the time of initiating legal proceedings would matter. The HC refused to disturb the family court order granting interim custody to Seema.
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