Can US court dissolve marriage under Hindu Law? HC to decide

The Bombay High Court would soon decide on whether a foreign court can grant divorce to someone who married in India, under the Hindu Marriage Act.

The Bombay High Court would soon decide on whether a foreign court can grant divorce to someone who married in India, under the Hindu Marriage Act.

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The case before the court pertains to a 37-year-old marriage of Girish and Lata Mehta.

The couple tied the knot way back in 1972. A few years later, Girish moved to United States, while Lata and their son stayed in India. They used to visit him in US occasionally.

The relations between the couple soured ten years after the marriage, and Girish applied for divorce to a court in Illinois while Lata was in India.

He told the US court that he did not know his wife’s whereabouts. The court granted him divorce in 1983, when he was still an Indian citizen. Later, in 1988, he attained the US citizenship.

Girish then wedded for the second time. In 1996, Lata moved a lower court here, initiating criminal proceedings against him for bigamy, which is an offence under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).