Laws needed for NRI marriage rows: panel

The parliamentary panel on women's empowerment tables its recommendations for preventing sham marriages.

Resolving an NRI marriage row is highly complex because it falls within the purview of private international law, apart from which there are many lacunae in the existing Indian laws also, a parliamentary committee report has said.

HT Image

To prevent NRI husbands from duping their wives, the parliamentary committee on empowerment of women tabled its recommendations titled "Plight of Indian women deserted by NRI husbands" on Monday.

There is a set of laws called 'Private International Law' that regulates differences in laws between two countries. These laws were formulated at a conference at The Hague. Countries that have signed a treaty can use them.

But India is not a member of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, however, a proposal to become a member is under process.

The absence of uniform civil laws and the abundance of personal laws of various religious communities make an NRI marriage dispute more complex. Legal complications multiply when the dispute becomes international.

During the same period, 28 cases were reported to the National Commission for Women, with Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh topping the list, the committee found.