Matrimonial Disputes

With steep rise in matrimonial disputes, there is a tendency of the NRI’s spouses to initiate litigation in India, just to harass the other spouse staying abroad. It is very common that in cases where husband and wife are staying in a foreign land and are even citizens of that country, yet one of them initiates Civil or Criminal Matrimonial litigation. This is done sometimes to rope in the family members of the spouse at the receiving end and sometimes to eye the property in India of that spouse.

There are various types of litigations which are undertaken in India, by the defaulting spouse. The most common frivolous litigation is that the husband and his family are subjecting the lady to cruelty for bringing less dowry and for not returning the dowry articles. For this, the husband and his family are exposed to the extent of getting arrested.

At the same time there are allegations of domestic violence. By making these false allegations, the aim is to get maintenance from the husband. Once the maintenance is awarded by the court, the recovery is ordered to be effected from the property of the suffering husband.

There are also many instances that one of the spouse comes to India with his/her child or stays back, and files a case to thwart the other spouse from having access to or taking custody of the child. To avoid this traumatic situation for the suffering NRI spouse, firstly the visitation rights are required to be passed in favor of that spouse and then the requisite order from the competent court is required to be got passed to take the child to the country of his/her natural residence.

In many situations, one of the spouses comes to India and files divorce case and gets a favourable order or the other party gets a divoce decree in a foreign country. The question arises as to applicability of a foreign judgement. The Courts in India have maintained a line that ‘no marriage between a NRI and an Indian woman which has taken place in India may be annulled by a foreign court; provision may be made for adequate alimony to the wife in the property of the husband both in India and abroad; the decree granted by Indian courts may be made executable in foreign courts both on principle of comity and by entering into reciprocal agreements which makes a foreign decree executable as it would have been a decree passed by that court.’

The NRI left behind in the foreign country, out of fear, avoids coming to India and loses control over his property and fails to exert his other rights. There is no one in the family or otherwise, to give him requisite legal cover. Moreover, the reliability factor and competence of the acquaintances, is a matter of concern.

To mitigate the sufferings of the spouse at the receiving end, the PILS provide with the best possible services and endeavors to get the cases sorted out with least inconvenience to the client. The cases are monitored at every stage, the best of advocates are engaged, the drafting is carefully executed at the head office and the client is kept in loop about the live status of the matter.