Hindu Marriage Act Not Applicable to NRIs, Rules Bombay HC

In a significant ruling, the Bombay High Court has said that the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA) cannot apply to an estranged couple who are domiciled in the US, reported the Times of India.

Justice Roshan Daliv dismissed the ruling of the Pune family court which had said that India court could hear a divorce case even if the couple lived even for a single day in the city when they holidayed in India, report said.

The court gave the ruling while hearing a plea filed by Michigan-based Smita Muley who had got a divorce from a US court. Her husband Suhas Muley came back to India and filed another divorce petition in a Pune court.

“The man cannot confer jurisdiction on the court of Pune where the couple never stayed together for any length of time in their own matrimonial home (India), they having had their matrimonial home in the US,’’ judge was quoted as saying.

“The HMA itself does not apply to the couple conse-qu-ent upon their domicile in the US and also because the rights between the parties have been settled by a judgment conclusive between them,’’ he added.

Earlier, Pune court had ruled that it had jurisdiction to hear the case based on Suhas’s claim that they had spent a night in his parents’ house in Aundh, Pune, in January 2008.

“The order of the family court, Pune, concluding that the parties last resided together in Pune and even though their residence is for a single day, it would give the court jurisdiction, suffers from material irregularity and is required to be interfered with.’’

The documents that Suhas produced in the HC as evidence that he was domiciled in India include copy of his ration card issued in 2001, his driving licence obtained in 1999, a 1995 voter identity card and passport with validity up to 2019, said report.

However, court was not satisfied, saying:  “None of these documents shows his intention to reside in India permanently; his Green Card shows he intends to stay in the US,’’ said the judge, adding, “It is easy to see that both the parties have had the intention of making the US their permanent home even prior to their marriage. Since their parents reside in India, they came to India to be married as per Hindu rites.’’

The court, however, observed that Suhas could challenge the US court’s divorce order of January 2009 in that country, said report.