WEDDING RECEPTION CANNOT BE CONSIDERED PART OF MARRIAGE RITUALS: BOMBAY HIGH COURT
The Bombay High Court said on Friday that wedding reception cannot be considered a part of marriage rituals and hence, the jurisdiction to file a divorce petition lies before the family court where the marriage ceremony took place and not where the wedding reception was held.
The bench of Justice Rajesh Patil said this, setting aside an April 2022 order of a family court in Mumbai, which had held that it has jurisdiction to entertain the divorce plea of a husband since their wedding reception had taken place in Mumbai, though the wedding ceremony was held in Rajasthan's Jodhpur.
"In my view, there can't be any doubt that a wedding reception can't be called as a part of the marriage ritual," Justice Patil noted in his 21-page order.
The couple got married as per Hindu Vedic rites in Jodhpur in Rajasthan in 2015 and held a reception in Mumbai. After that, the couple stayed in Mumbai at the house of the husband's parents for a few days before leaving for the US.
In October 2019, due to matrimonial issues, they started residing separately in the US. The husband filed for divorce before the family court in Mumbai in August 2020 under the Hindu Marriage Act on the grounds of cruelty.
Four months later, the wife filed a divorce petition before a USA court, which is still pending for hearing. The wife also filed an application before the family court in Mumbai, challenging the maintainability of her husband's divorce plea, claiming it was not competent to hear the same.
After the family court rejected her application, she approached the High Court, which proceeded to allow her appeal and set aside the family court's order. The bench was informed that neither the husband nor the wife had any intention of coming back to India as they were applying for Green Cards.
The bench noted that the couple had last resided together in the USA and not in Mumbai. Therefore, the family court in Mumbai will not have the jurisdiction to entertain the divorce plea, it stated.
2024-04-20T00:36:48Z dg43tfdfdgfd