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Thursday, December 13, 2012

Recognition of Foreign Divorce Decree in India




When a foreign Divorce may conclusive in India/ 
Recognition of Foreign Divorce Decree in India.

Here the petitioner who is challenging the judgment was at the relevant time resident for a fairly long time within the jurisdiction of the foreign Court, did not approach the foreign Court under the dictates of the respondent and made out a case before the foreign Court for obtaining the judgment. Indeed in Y. Narasimha Rao (supra) itself the Supreme Court held matrimonial action filed in the forum where the wife is domiciled or habitually and permanently resides or where the wife voluntarily and effectively submits to the foreign jurisdiction or where the wife consents to the grant of the relief by the foreign Court although the jurisdiction of the foreign Court is not in accordance with the provisions of the Matrimonial Law of the parties, to be valid and the judgment of such foreign Court to be conclusive

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Date of decision: 25th January, 2012
+ CRL.M.C. 3845/2010
% DR. MEENA CHAUDHARY
@ DR. MEENA P.N. SINGH ..... Petitioner Through: None.
Versus
BASANT KUMAR CHAUDHARY & ORS. ..... Respondents Through: Mr. Atul Jha, Adv.
CORAM :-
HON'BLE THE ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIV SAHAI ENDLAW
JUDGMENT
RAJIV SAHAI ENDLAW, J.
1. This petition has been preferred under Article 227 of the Constitution of India read with Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.P.C.) impugning the order dated 26.08.2010 of the learned Metropolitan Magistrate dismissing the complaint under Section 200 of the Cr.P.C. filed by the petitioner of offence under Section 120-B read with Section 494 and Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). This petition was listed before the learned Single Judge on 10.12.2010 when the CRL.M.C. 3845/2010 Page 1 of 8 petitioner appearing in person sought adjournment. The petitioner had also filed LPA No.64/2009 and contempt case No.C-386/2010. The petitioner on 03.05.2011, while appearing before the Division Bench in LPA No.64/2009 sought consolidation of the contempt petition as well this petition with the LPA and the matter was accordingly placed before Hon'ble the Chief Justice who vide order dated 22.05.2011 directed that the contempt petition as well as this petition be placed before the same Division Bench before which the LPA was pending. It is for this reason that the matter is before us. We may also notice that though the LPA and the contempt petition have since been disposed of but the petitioner appearing in person stated that rather than sending back this petition to the learned Single Judge, we only should hear the same. In view of the said request and for the reason that by doing so, the petitioner is not being deprived of any remedy had the matter been considered by the learned Single Judge, we proceeded to hear the petitioner. The petitioner sought and was granted liberty to file written arguments which have also been filed.
CRL.M.C. 3845/2010 Page 2 of 8
2. The learned Metropolitan Magistrate after recording the statements of the petitioner and her witnesses held no case for summoning of the accused / respondent to have been made out for the reason of the petitioner herself having obtained decree of dissolution of her marriage with the respondent from the Court in U.K. and the respondent having so ceased to be the husband of the petitioner there being no question of his being guilty of the offence of bigamy under Section 494 of the IPC or of causing cruelty to the petitioner as wife under Section 498-A of the IPC. Qua the offence under Section 498-A of the IPC, reliance was also placed on the status report submitted by the police and on the petitioner having failed to make out any case of cruelty.
3. The argument of the petitioner before us, orally as well as in writing, is that the divorce decree obtained by her in U.K. being not a valid decree and hence not bringing to an end the relationship of husband and wife between the petitioner and the respondent. Reliance in this regard is placed on Smt. Satya Vs. Shri Teja Singh (1975) 1 SCC 120 and on Y. Narasimha Rao Vs. Y. Venkata Lakshmi (1991) 3 SCC 451. The CRL.M.C. 3845/2010 Page 3 of 8 Supreme Court in both Smt. Satya and Y. Narasimha Rao (supra) was faced with a situation of the husband setting up a decree of a foreign Court of dissolution of marriage as a defence to the claim / charge of the wife in the Indian Courts for maintenance or of bigamy. In both cases, the husband was found to have obtained the decree of foreign Court fraudulently.
4. The situation here is however converse. It is the petitioner herself who had obtained the decree from the foreign Court of dissolution of marriage and who now wants our Courts to ignore the same. Obviously, no case of the foreign decree having been obtained fraudulently can be said to exist in this scenario. Rather the said foreign decree was at the sole initiative of the petitioner with the respondent having no role in the same and having not even contested the same. The question which arises is, can the petitioner, who by obtaining the said decree led the respondent to believe that his marriage with the petitioner stood dissolved and that he was free to remarry, can now be permitted to challenge the foreign decree obtained herself and charge the respondent with the offence of bigamy. In CRL.M.C. 3845/2010 Page 4 of 8 our opinion, no and the complaint has been rightly dismissed by the learned Metropolitan Magistrate. As far back as in Asanalli Nagoor Meera Vs. K.M. Madhu Meera MANU/TN/0707/1925, a division bench of the Madras High Court held that a litigant cannot be allowed to deny the jurisdiction which he himself invoked. The same principle was recently applied by a Single Judge of the same Court in Ms. Dorothy Thomas Vs. Rex Arul MANU/TN/2876/2011 in near similar facts.
5. We may also notice that under Section 13 of CPC a foreign judgment is conclusive as to any matter thereby directly adjudicated upon between the same parties except in cases specified thereunder. However the right if any to contend that the said foreign judgment is not conclusive can be only of the party who had himself / herself / itself not initiated the process of obtaining the said judgment and cannot be of a party at whose instance such foreign judgment has been obtained. No litigant can be allowed to abuse the process of the Courts or to approbate and reprobate as per convenience. Mention at this stage may also be made of the finding recorded by the learned Metropolitan Magistrate and not disputed before us CRL.M.C. 3845/2010 Page 5 of 8 that the petitioner in the disputes with her siblings before another Indian Court sought to justify her claim by contending herself to be a divorcee by virtue of the said foreign judgment.
6. Thus, whichever way we may look, we cannot find any error in the order of dismissal of the complaint aforesaid. We had also called for the records of the Court of the Metropolitan Magistrate and have perused the pre-summoning evidence led by the petitioner. The petitioner had deposed that she was in U.K. from 1993 to 1999. She has not even whispered, alleged or made out any case of any of the grounds for the foreign judgment of dissolution of her marriage with the respondent being not conclusive. For the said foreign judgment to be not conclusive, the petitioner was required to make out a case of the same being either pronounced by a Court having no jurisdiction and / or having been not given on the merits of the case or being founded on an incorrect view of international law or the proceedings resulting therein being opposed to natural justice or having been obtained by fraud or sustaining a claim founded on a breach of any law in force in India. Moreover all the grounds CRL.M.C. 3845/2010 Page 6 of 8 specified in Section 13 of the CPC and on establishment whereof a foreign judgment can be said to be not conclusive are such which can be set up only by a party not himself/herself/itself approaching the foreign Court. The judgments cited by the petitioner cannot be read as laying down and indeed do not lay down any absolute principle that a marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 cannot be dissolved by a foreign Court.Here the petitioner who is challenging the judgment was at the relevant time resident for a fairly long time within the jurisdiction of the foreign Court, did not approach the foreign Court under the dictates of the respondent and made out a case before the foreign Court for obtaining the judgment. Indeed in Y. Narasimha Rao (supra) itself the Supreme Court held matrimonial action filed in the forum where the wife is domiciled or habitually and permanently resides or where the wife voluntarily and effectively submits to the foreign jurisdiction or where the wife consents to the grant of the relief by the foreign Court although the jurisdiction of the foreign Court is not in accordance with the provisions of the Matrimonial Law of the parties, to be valid and the judgment of such foreign Court to be conclusive. We, therefore, do not find any merit in this petition. CRL.M.C. 3845/2010 Page 7 of 8
7. Before parting with the case, we may observe that though the order of the Metropolitan Magistrate of dismissal of complaint is under Section 203 of the Cr.P.C. and is challengeable by way of Revision Petition under Section 397 read with Section 401 of the Cr.P.C. but since the matter had remained pending before this Court, though in the circumstances aforesaid for considerable time, we did not deem it appropriate to reject this petition on the said ground.
The petition is accordingly dismissed. No order as to costs. RAJIV SAHAI ENDLAW, J
ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE
JANUARY 25, 2012

when a foreign divorce decree may be conclusive-valid in India

"
The only law that can be applicable to the matrimonial dispute is the one under which the parties were married. Therefore, in cases where the foreign court by its own rules of jurisdiction, has rightly entertained the dispute and granted a valid decree of divorce according to its law, the same would only be recognized by the Indian Courts if it complies with the rules laid down by the Hon´ble Supreme Court of India."

See the Judgment :



BENCH:SAWANT, P.B.
MISRA, RANGNATH (CJ)
PETITIONER:Y. NARASIMHA RAO AND ORS.
Vs.
RESPONDENT:Y. VENKATA LAKSHMI AND ANR.
CITATION:1991 SCR (2) 821 1991 SCC (3) 451
JT 1991 (3) 33 1991 SCALE (2)1
ACT:Hindu Marriage Act, 1955: Section 19. Dissolution of
marriage-Court to which petition should be presented-Parties
marrying in India under Hindu Law-Husband’s petition for
dissolution of marriage in Foreign Court-Fraud-Incorrect
representation of jurisdictional facts-Husband neither
domiciled nor had intention to make the foreign state his
home but only technically satisfying the requirement of
residence of 90 days for the purpose of obtaining divorce-
Divorce decree by foreign court on a ground not available
under the 1955 Act-Enforceability of.
Civil Procedure Code, 1908: Section 13. Matrimonial
dispute-Foreign judgment-When not conclusive.
Clause (a)-“Court of competent jurisdiction”-Which is.
Clause (b)-Judgment on merits-What is.
Clause (c)-Judgment founded on a ground not recognised by Law of India-Effect of.
Clause (d)-Judgment obtained in proceedings opposed in principles of natural justice-Effect of-Principles of natural justice-Scope of.
Clause (e)-`Fraud’-Scope of-Judgment obtained by fraud-Effect of.
Clause (f)-Judgment founded on a breach of law in force in India-Effect of.
Section 14-Presumption as to foreign judgments-Expression “Certified copy of a foreign judgment”-Should
be read consistent with requirement of Section 86 of Indian Evidence Act.
Indian Evidence Act, 1872. Section 41-“Competent court”-Which is.

Section 63(1)(2), 65(e)(f), 74(1)(iii), 76, 77 and 86.
Foreign judgment-Photostat copy-Admissibility of.
Private International Law-Matrimonial dispute-Recognition of foreign judgment-Rules for recognition of foreign matrimonial judgment laid down-Hague convention of 1968 on the recognition of divorce and legal separations-Article 10-Judgment Convention of the European Community.Words and phrases “Residence-Meaning of”.

HEADNOTE:
The first appellant and the first respondent were married at Tirupati on 27.2.1975 according to Hindu Law.
They separated in July 1978. The appellant-husband filed a

YN-Rao-DivorceInForeignCourtsNotValid.txt 4/11/2007
petition for dissolution of the marriage in the Sub-Court of
Tirupati stating that he was a resident of South Claiborn
Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana, and that he was a citizen of
India and that he and his wife last resided together at New
Orleans, Louisiana. Subsequently he filed another petition
for dissolution of marriage in the Circuit Court St. Louis
Country, Missouri, USA alleging that he has been a resident
of the State of Missouri for 90 days or more immediately
preceding th filing of the petition by refusing to continue
to live with the appellant in the US and particularly in the
State of Missouri. But from the averments made by him in the
petition before the Sub-Judge, Tirupati it was obvious that
he and his wife had last resided together at New Orleans,
Louisiana and never within the jurisdiction of th Circuit
Court of St. Louis Country in the State of Missouri.
The respondent-wife filed her reply raising her
objections to the maintainability of the petition. She also
clearly stated that her reply was without prejudice to her
contention that she was not submitting to the jurisdiction
of the foreign court.

The Circuit Court Missouri assumed jurisdiction on the
ground that the 1st Appellant had been a resident of the
State of Missouri for 90 days next preceding the
commencement of the action in the Court. In the absence of
the respondent-wife the Circuit Court, Missouri passed a
decree for dissolution of marriage on the only ground that
the marriage has irretrievably down. Subsequent to the
passing of the decree by the Circuit Court, Missouri, the
appellant filed an application for dismissal of his earlier
petition before the Sub-Court of Tirupati and the same was
dismissed.

On 2nd November 1981 the last appellant married appellant
No. 2. Thereafter, the 1st-respondent filed a criminal
complaint against the appellants for the offence of bigamy.
The appellants filed an application for their discharge in
view of the decree for dissolution of marriage passed by the
Circuit Court, Missouri. The Magistrate discharged the
appellants by holding that the complainant-wife had failed
to make out a prima facie case against the appellants. The
respondent preferred a Criminal Revision Petition before the
High Court which set aside the order of the Magistrate by
holding (i) that a photostat copy of the judgment of
Missouri Court was not admissible in evidence; (ii) since
the Learned Magistrate acted on the photostat copy of the
judgment, he was in error in discharging the accused.
Accordingly the High Court directed the Magistrate to
dispose of the petition filed by the appellants for their
discharge afresh in accordance with law. Aggrieved by the
decision of the High Court the appellants filed appeal in
this Court.
Dismissing the appeal, this Court,

HELD: 1. The decree dissolving the marriage passed by
the foreign court is without jurisdiction according to the
Hindu Marriage Act as neither the marriage was celebrated
nor the parties last resided together nor the respondent
resided within the jurisdiction of that Court. Further,
irretrievable breakdown of marriage is not one of the
grounds recognised by the Act of dissolution of marriage.
Hence, the decree of the divorce passed by the foreign court
was on a ground unavailable under the Act which is
applicable to the marriage. Since with regard to the
jurisdiction of the forum as well as the ground on which it
is passed the foreign decree in the present case is not in
accordance with the Act under which the parties were
married, and the respondent had not submitted to the
jurisdiction of the court or consented to its passing, it
YN-Rao-DivorceInForeignCourtsNotValid.txt 4/11/2007
cannot be recognised by the courts in this country and is
therefore, unenforceable. [828H, 829A, 828E, 834H, 835A]
2. Residence does not mean a temporary residence for the
purpose of obtaining a divorce but habitual residence or
residence which is intended to be permanent for future as
well. Smt. Satya v. Teja Singh, [1975] 2 S.C.R. 1971, referred to.

3. The rules of Private International Law in this
country are not codified and are scattered in different
enactments such as the Civil Procedure Code, the Contract
ACt, the Indian Succession Act, the Indian Divorce Act, the
Special Marriage Act etc. In addition, some
rules have also been evolved by judicial decisions. In
matters of status or legal capacity of natural persons,
matrimonial disputes, custody of children, adoption,
testamentary and intestate succession etc. the problem in
this country is complicated by the fact that there exist
different personal laws and no uniform rule can be laid down
for all citizens. Today more than ever in the past, the need
for definitive rules for recognition of foreign judgments in
personal and family matters, and particularly in matrimonial
disputes has surged to the surface. A large number of
foreign decrees in matrimonial matters is becoming the order
of the day. A time has, therefore, come to ensure certainty
in the recognition of the foreign judgments in these
matters. The minimum rules of guidance for securing the
certainty need not await legislative initiative. This Court
can accomplish the modest job within the frame-work of the
present statutory provisions if they are rationally
interpreted and extended to achieve the purpose. Though the
proposed rules of guidance in this area may prove inadequate
or miss some aspects which may not be present to us at this
juncture, yet a begining has to be made as best as one can,
the lacunae and the errors being left to be filled in and
corrected by future judgments. [829H, 830A, 831C, F-H]

4. The relevant provisions of Section 13 of the CPC are
capable of being interpreted to secure the required
certainty in the sphere of this branch of law in conformity
with public policy, justice, equity and good conscience,
and the rules so evolved will protect the sanctity of the
institution of marriage and the unity of family which are
the corner stones of our social life.
4.1 On an analysis and interpretation of Section 13 of
CPC the following rule can be deduced for recognising a
foreign matrimonial judgment in this country. The
jurisdiction assumed by the foreign court as well as the
grounds on which the relief is granted must be in accordance
with the matrimonial law under which the parties are
married. The exceptions to this rule may be as follows; (i)
where the matrimonial action is filed in the forum where the
respondent is domiciled or habitually and permanently
resides and the relief is granted on a ground available in
the matrimonial law under which the parties are married;
(ii) where the respondent voluntarily and effectively
submits to the jurisdiction of the forum and contests the
claim which is based on a ground available under the
matrimonial law under which the parties are married; (iii)
where the respondent consents to the grant of the relief
although the jurisdiction of the forum is not in accordance
with the provisions of the matrimonial law of the parties.

5. The High Court erred in setting aside the order ofthe learned Magistrate only on the ground that the photostat copy of the decree was not admissible in evidence.

YN-Rao-DivorceInForeignCourtsNotValid.txt 4/11/2007
In the instant case photostat copies of the judicial record
of the Court of St. Louis is certified for th Circuit Clerk
by the Deputy clerk who is a public officer having the
custody of the document within the meaning of Section 76 of
the Indian Evidence Act also in the manner required by the
provisions of the said section. Hence the photostat copy per
se is not inadmissible in evidence. It is inadmissible
because it has not further been certified by the
representative of our Central Government in the United
States as required by Section 86 of the Act. Therefore the
document is not admissible in evidence for want of the
certificate under Section 86 of the Act and not because it
is a photostat copy of the original as held by the High Court.

6. The Magistrate is directed to proceed with th matter
pending before him according to law as expeditiously as
possible, preferably within four months. [835G]
JUDGMENT:CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No. 385 of 1991.
From the Judgment and Order dated 18.4.1988 of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Crl. Revision Petition No. 41 of 1987.
M.C. Bhandare and Ms. C.K. Sucharita for the Appellants.
C.N. Sreekumar and G. Prabhakar (for the State) for the Respondents.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by SAWANT, J. Leave is granted. Appeal is taken oj board for final hearing by consent of parties.
The 1st appellant and the 1st respondent were married ar
Tirupati on February 27, 1975. They separated in July 1978.
The 1st appellant filed a petition for dissolution of
marriage in the Circuit of St. Louis Country Missouri, USA.
The 1st respondent sent her reply from here under protest.
The Circuit Court passed a decree for dissolution of
marriage on February 19, 1980 in the absence of the 1st respondent.

2. The 1st appellant had earlier filed a petition for
dissolution of marriage in the Sub-Court of Tirupati being
O.P. No. 87/86. In that petition, the 1st appellant filed an
application for dismissing the same as not pressed in view
of the decree passed by the Missouri Court. On August 14,
1991 the learned sub-Judge of Tirupati dismissed the petition.

3. On November 2, 1981, the 1st appellant married the
2nd appellant in Yadgirigutta, 1st respondent filed a
criminal complaint against the appellants for the offence of
bigamy. It is not necessary to refer to the details of the
proceedings in the said complaint. Suffice it to say that in
that complaint, the appellants filed an application for
their discharge in view of the decree for dissolution of
marriage passed by Missouri Court. By this judgment of
October 21, 1986, the learned Magistrate discharged the
appellants holding that the complainant, i.e., the 1st
respondent had failed to make out a prima facie case against
the appellants. Against the said decision, the 1st
respondent preferred a Criminal Revision Petition to the
High Court and the High Court by the impugned decision of
April 18, 1987 set aside the order of the magistrate holding
that a photostat copy of the judgment of the Missouri Court
was not admissible in evidence to prove the dissolution of
marriage. The Court further held that since the learned
Magistrate acted on the photostat copy, he was in error in
YN-Rao-DivorceInForeignCourtsNotValid.txt 4/11/2007
discharging the accused and directed the Magistrate to
dispose of the petition filed by the accused, i.e.,
appellants herein for their discharge, afresh in accordance
with law. It is aggrieved by this decision that the present
appeal is filed.

4. It is necessary to note certain facts relating to the
decree of dissolution of marriage passed by the Circuit
Court of St. Louis Country Missouri, USA. In the first
instance, the Court assumed jurisdiction over the matter on
the ground that the 1st appellant had been a resident of the
State of Missouri for 90 days next preceding the
commencement of the action and that petition in that Court.
Secondly, the decree has been passed on the only ground that
there remains no reasonable likelihood that the marriage
between the parties can be preserved, and that the marriage
is, therefore, irretrievably broken”. Thirdly, the 1st
respondent had not submitted to the jurisdiction of the
Court. From the record, it appears that to the petition she
had filed two replies of the same date. Both are identical
in nature except that one of the replies begins with an
additional averment as follows: “without prejudice to the
contention that this respondent is not submitting to the
jurisdiction of this hon’ble court, this respondent sub-
mits as follows”. She had also stated in the replies, among
other things, that (i) the petition was not maintainable,
(ii) she was not aware if the first appellant had been
living in the State of Missouri for more than 90 days and
that he was entitled to file the petition before the Court,
(iii) the parties were Hindus and governed by Hindu Law,
(iv) she was an Indian citizen and was not governed by laws
in force in the State of Missouri and , therefore, the Court
had no jurisdiction to entertain the petition, (v) the
dissolution of the marriage between the parties was governed
by the Hindu Marriage Act and that it could not be dissolved
in any other way except as provided under the said Act, (vi)
the Court had no jurisdiction to enforce the foreign laws
and none of the grounds pleaded in the petition was
sufficient to grant any divorce under the Hindu Marriage
Act.

Fourthly, it is not disputed that the 1st respondent was
neither present nor represented in the Court passed the
decree in her absence. In fact, the Court has in terms
observed that it had no jurisdiction “in personam” over
the respondent or minor child which was born out of the wedlock
and both of them had domiciled in India. Fifthly, in
the petition which was filed by the 1st appellant in that
Court on October 6, 1980, besides alleging that he had been
a resident of the State of Missouri for 90 days or more
immediately preceding the filing of the petition and he was
then residing at 23rd Timber View Road, Kukwapood, in the
Country of St. Louis, Missouri, he had also alleged that the
1st respondent had deserted him for one year or more next
preceding the filing of the petition by refusal to continue
to live with the appellant in the United States and
particularly in the State of Missouri. On the other hand,
the averments made by him in his petition filed in the court
of the Subordinate Judge, Tirupati in 1978 shows that he was
a resident of Apartment No. 414, 6440, South Claiborn
Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States and that he
was a citizen of India. He had given for the service of all
notices and processes in the petition, the address of his
counsel Shri PR Ramachandra Rao, Advocate, 16-11-1/3,
Malakpet, Hyderabad-500 036. Even according to his averments
in the said petition, the 1st respondent had resided with
him at Kuppanapudi for about 4 to 5 months after th
marriage. Thereafter she had gone to her parental house at
YN-Rao-DivorceInForeignCourtsNotValid.txt 4/11/2007
Relangi, Tanuka Taluk, West Godawari District. He was,
thereafter, sponsored by his friend Prasad for a placement
in the medical service in the United States and had first
obtained employment in Chicago and thereafter in Oak Forest
and Greenville Springs and ultimately in the Charity
Hospital in Louisiana at New Orleans where he continued to
be emp-loyed. Again according to the averments in the said
petition, when the 1st respondent joined him in the United
States, both of them had stayed together as husband and wife
at New Orleans. The 1st respondent left his residence in New
Orleans and went first to Jackson, Texas and, thereafter, to
Chicago to stay at the residence of his friend, Prasad.
Thereafter she left Chicago for India. Thus it is obvious
from these averments in the petition that both the 1st
respondent and the 1st petitioner had last resided together
at New Orleans, Louisiana and never within the jurisdiction
of the Circuit Court of St. Louis Country in the State of
Missouri. The averments to that effect in the petition filed
before the St. Louis Court are obviously incorrect.

5. Under the provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955
(hereinafter referred to as the “Act”) only the District
Court within the local limits of whose original civil
jurisdiction (i) the marriage was solemnized, or (ii) the
respondent, at the time of the presentation of the petition
resides, or (iii) the parties to the marriage last resided
together, or (iv) the petitioner is residing at the time of
the presentation of the petition, in a case where the
respondent is, at the time, residing outside the territories
to which the Act extends, or has not been heard of as being
alive for a period of seven years of more by those persons
who would naturally have heard of him if he were alive, has
jurisdiction to entertain the petition. The Circuit Court of
St. Louis Country, Missouri had, therefore, no jurisdiction
to entertain the petition according to the Act under which
admittedly the parties were married. Secondly, irretrievable
breakdown of marriage is not one of the grounds recognised
by the Act for dissolution of marriage. Hence, the decree of
divorce passed by the foreign court was on a ground
unavailable under the Act.

6. Under Section 13 of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908
(hereinafter referred to as the “Code”), a foreign
judgment is not conclusive as to any matter thereby
directly adjudicated upon between the parties if (a) it has
not been pronounced by a Court of competent jurisdiction;
(b) it has not been given on the merits of the case; (c) it
is founded on an incorrect view of international law or a
refusal to recognize the law of India in cases in which such
law is applicable; (d) the proceedings are opposed to
natural justice, (e) it is obtained by fraud, (f) it
sustains a claim founded on a breach of any law in force in India.

7. As pointed out above, the present decree dissolving
the marriage passed by the foreign court is without
jurisdiction according to the Act as neither the marriage
was celebrated nor the parties last
resided together nor the respondent resided within the
jurisdiction of that Court. The decree is also passed on a
ground which is not available under the Act which is
applicable to the marriage. What is further, the decree has
been obtained by the 1st appellant by stating that he was
the resident of the Missouri State when the record shows
that he was only a bird of passage there and was ordinarily
a resident of the State of Louisiana. He had, if at all,
only technically satisfied the requirement of residence of
YN-Rao-DivorceInForeignCourtsNotValid.txt 4/11/2007
ninety days with the only purpose of obtaining the divorce.
He was neither domiciled in that State nor had he an
intention to make it his home. He had also no substantial
connection with the forum. The 1st appellant has further
brought no rules on record under which the St. Louis Court
could assume jurisdiction over the matter. On the contrary,
as pointed out earlier, he has in his petition made a false
averment that the 1st respondent had refused to continue to
stay with him in the State of Missouri where she had never
been. In the absence of the rules of jurisdiction of that
court, we are not aware whether the residence of the 1st
respondent within the State of Missouri was necessary to
confer jurisdiction on that court, and if not, of the
reasons for making the said averment.

8. Relying on a decision of this Court in Smt. Satya v.
Teja Singh, [1975] 2 SCR 1971 it is possible for us to
dispose of this case on a narrow ground, viz., that the
appellant played a fraud on the foreign court residence does
not mean a temporary residence for the purpose of obtaining
a divorce but habitual residence or residence which is
intended to be permanent for future as well. We remain from
adopting that course in the present case because there is
nothing on record to assure us that the Court of St. Louis
does not assume jurisdiction only on the basis of a mere
temporary residence of the appellant for 90 days even is such
residence is for the purpose of obtaining divorce. We would,
therefore, presume that the foreign court by its own rules
of jurisdiction had rightly entertained the dispute and
granted a valid decree of divorce according to its law. The
larger question that we would like to address ourselves to
is whether even in such cases, the Courts in this country
should recognise the foreign divorce decrees.

9. The rules of Private International Law in this
country are not codified and are scattered in different
enactments such as the Civil Procedure Code, the Contract
Act, the Indian Succession Act, the Indian Divorce Act, the
Special Marriage Act etc. In addition, some rules have also
been evolved by judicial decisions. In matters of status or
legal capacity of natural persons, matrimonial disputes,
custody of children, adoption, testamentary and intestate succession
etc. the problem in this country is complicated by the fact
that there exist different personal laws and no uniform rule
can be laid down for all citizens. The distinction between
matters which concern personal and family affairs and those
which concern commercial relationships, civil wrongs etc. is
well recognised in other countries and legal systems. The
law in the former area tends to be primarily determined and
influenced by social, moral and religious considerations,
and public policy plays a special and important role in
shaping it. Hence, in almost all the countries the
jurisdicational procedural and substantive rules which are
applied to disputes arising in this area are significantly
different from those applied to claims in other areas. That
is as it ought to be. For, no country can afford to
sacrifice its internal unity, stability and tranquility for
the sake of uniformity of rules and comity of nations which
considerations are important and appropriate to facilitate
international trade, commerce, industry, communication,
transport, exchange of services, technology, manpower etc.
This glaring fact of national life has been recognised both
by the Hague Convention of 1968 on the Recognition of
Divorce and Legal Seperations as well as by the Judgments
Convention of the European Community of the same year.
Article 10 of the Hague Convention expressly provides that
the contracting States may refuse to recognise a divorce or
YN-Rao-DivorceInForeignCourtsNotValid.txt 4/11/2007
legal separation if such recognition is manifestly
incompatible with their public policy. The Judgments
Convention of the European Community expressly excludes from
its scope (a) status or legal capacity of natural persons,
(b) rights in property arising out of a matrimonial
relationship, (c) wills and succession, (d) social security
and (e) bankruptcy. A separate convention was contemplated
for the last of the subjects.

10. We are in the present case concerned only with the
matrimonial law and what we state here will apply strictly
to matters arising out of and ancillary to matrimonial
disputes. The Courts in this country have so far tried to
follow in these matters the English rules of Private
International Law whether common law rules or statutory
rules. The dependence on English Law even in matters which
are purely personal, has however time and again been
regretted. But nothing much has been done to remedy the
situation. The labours of the Law Commission poured in its
65th Report on this very subject have not fructified since
April 1976, when the Report was submitted. Even the
British were circumspect and hesitant to apply their rules
of law in such matters during their governance of this
country and had left the family law to be governed by the
customary rules of the different communities. It is only where was a void that they had
stepped in by enactments such as the Special Marriage Act,
Indian Divorce Act, Indian Succession Act etc. In spite,
however, of more than 43 years of independence we find that
the legislature has not thought it fit to enact rules of
Private International Law in this area and in the absence of
such initiative from the legislature the courts in this
country their inspiration, as stated earlier, from the
English rules. Even in doing so they have not been uniform
in practice with the result that we have some conflicting
decisions in the area.

11. We cannot also lose sight of the fact that today
more than ever in the past, the need for definitive rules
for recognition of foreign judgments in personal and family
matters, and particularly in matrimonial disputes has surged
to the surface. Many a man and woman of this land with
different personal laws have migrated and are migrating to
different countries either to make their permanent abode
there or for temporary residence. Likewise there is also
immigration of the nationals of other countries. The
advancement in communication and transportation has also
made it easier for individuals to hop from one country to
another. It is also not unusual to come across cases where
citizens of this country have been contracting marriages
either in this country or abroad with nationals of the
other countries or among themselves, or having married here,
either both or one of them migrate to other countries. There
are also cases where parties having married here have been
either domiciled or residing separately in different foreign
countries. This migration, temporary or permanent, has also
been giving rise to various kinds of matrimonial disputes
destroying in its turn the family and its peace. A large
number of foreign decrees in matrimonial matters is becoming
the order of the recognition of the foreign judgments in
these matters. The minimum rules of guidance for securing
the certainty need not await legislative initiative. This
Court can accomplish the modest job within the framework of
the present statutory provisions if they are rationally
interpreted and extended to achieve the purpose. It is with
this intention that we are undertaking this venture. We
aware that unaided and left solely to our resources the
rules of guidance which we propose to lay down in this area
YN-Rao-DivorceInForeignCourtsNotValid.txt 4/11/2007
may prove inadequate or miss some aspects which may not be
present to us at this juncture. But a begining has to be
made as best as one can, the lacunae and the errors being
left to be filled in and corrected by future judgments.

12. We believe that the relevant provisions of Section
13 of the Code are capable of being interpreted to secure
the required certainty in the sphere of this branch of law
in conformity with public policy, justice, equity and good
conscience, and the rules so evolved will protect th
sanctity of the institution of marriage and the unity of
family which are the corner stones of our societal life.
Clause (a) of Section 13 states that a foreign judgment
shall not be recognised if it has not been pronounced by a
court of competent jurisdiction. We are of the view that
this clause should be interpreted to mean that only that
court will be a court of competent jurisdiction which the
Act or the law under which the parties are married
recognises as a court of competent jurisdiction to entertain
the matrimonial dispute. Any other court should be held to
be a court without jurisdiction unless both parties
voluntarily and unconditionally subject themselves to the
jurisdiction of that court. The expression “competent
court” in Section 41 of the Indian Evidence Act has also to
be construed likewise.

Clause (b) of Section 13 states that if a foreign has
not been given on the merits of the case, the courts in this
country will not recognise such judgment. This clause
should be interpreted to mean (a) that the decision of the
foreign court should be on a ground available under the law
under which the parties are married, and (b) that the
decision should be a result of the contest between the
parties. The latter requirement is fulfilled only when the
respondent is duly served and voluntarily and
unconditionally submits himself/herself to the jurisdiction
of the court and contests the claim, or agrees to the
passing of the decree with or without appearance. A mere
filing of the reply to the claim under protest and without
submitting to the jurisdiction of the court, or an
appearance in the Court either in person or through a
representative for objecting to the jurisdiction of the
Court, should not be considered as a decision on the merits
of the case. In this respect the general rules of the
acquiescence to the jurisdiction of the Court which may be
valid in other matters and areas should be ignored and
deemed inappropriate.

The second part of clause (c) of Section 13 states that
where the judgment is founded on a refusal to recognise
the law of this country in cases in which such law is
applicable, the judgment will not be recognised by the
courts in this country. The marriages which take place in
this country can only be under either the customary or the
statutory law in force in this country. Hence, the only law
that can be applicable to the matrimonial disputes is the one under which the
parties are married, and no other law. When, therefore, a
foreign judgment is founded on a jurisdiction or on ground
not recognised by such law, it is a judgment which is in
defiance of the Law. Hence, it is not conclusive of the
matters adjudicated therein and therefore, unenforceable in
this country. For the same reason, such a judgment will
also be unenforceable under clause (f) of Section 13, since
such a judgment would obviously be in breach of the
matrimonial law in force in this country.
Clause (d) of Section 13 which makes a foreign judgment
unenforceable on th ground that the proceedings in which it
YN-Rao-DivorceInForeignCourtsNotValid.txt 4/11/2007
is obtained are opposed to natural justice, states no more
than an elementary principle on which any civilised system
of justice rests. However, in matters concerning the family
law such as the matrimonial disputes, this principle has to
b extended to mean something more than mere compliance with
the technical rules of procedure. If the rule of audi
alteram partem has any meaning with reference to the
proceedings in a foreign court, for the purposes of the rule
it should not be deemed sufficient that the respondent has
been duly served with the process of the court. It is
necessary to ascertain whether the respondent was in a
position to present or represent himself/herself and
contest effectively the said proceedings. This requirement
should apply equally to the appellate proceedings if and
when they are file by either party. If the foreign court has
not ascertained and ensured such effective contest by
requiring the petitioner to make all necessary provisions
for the respondent to defend including the costs of travel,
residence and litigation where necessary, it should be held
that the proceedings are in breach of the principles of
natural justice. It is for this reason that we find that the
rules of Private International Law of some countries insist,
even in commercial matters, that the action should be filed
in the forum where the defendant is either domiciled or is
habitually resident. It is only in special cases which is
called special jurisdiction where the claim has some real
link with other forum that a judgment of such forum is
recognised. This jurisdiction principle is also recognised
by the Judgments Convention of this European Community . If,
therefore, the courts in this country also insist as a
matter of rule that foreign matrimonial judgment will be
recognised only it it is of the forum where the respondent
is domiciled or habitually and permanently resides, the
provisions of clause (d) may be held to have been satisfied.
The provision of clause (e) of Section 13 which
requires that the courts in this country will not recognise a foreign judgment
if it has been obtained by fraud, is self-evident. However,
in view of the decision of this Court in Smt. Satya v. Teja
Singh, (supra) it must be understood that the fraud need not
be only in relation to the merits of the mater but may also
be in relation to jurisdictional facts.

13. From the aforesaid discussion the following rule
can be deduced for recognising foreign matrimonial judgment
in this country. The jurisdiction assumed by the foreign
court as well as the grounds on which the relief is granted
must be in accordance with the matrimonial law under which
the parties are married. The exceptions to this rule may be
as follows: (i) where the matrimonial action is filed in the
forum where the respondent is domiciled or habitually and
permanently resides and the relief is granted on a ground
available in the matrimonial law under which the parties are
married; (ii) where the respondent voluntarily and
effectively submits to the jurisdiction of the forum as
discussed above and contests the claim which is based on a
ground available under the matrimonial law under which the
parties are married; (iii) where the respondent consents to
the grant of the relief although the jurisdiction of the
forum is not in accordance with the provisions of the
matrimonial law of the parties.

The aforesaid rule with its stated exceptions has the
merit of being just and equitable. It does no injustice to
any of the parties. The parties do and ought to know their
rights and obligations when they marry under a particular
law. They cannot be heard to make a grievance about it
later or allowed to bypass it by subterfuges as in the
YN-Rao-DivorceInForeignCourtsNotValid.txt 4/11/2007
present case. The rule also has an advantage of rescuing
the institution of marriage from the uncertain maze of the
rules of the Private International Law of the different
countries with regard to jurisdiction and merits based
variously on domicile, nationality, residence-permanent or
temporary or ad hoc forum, proper law etc. and ensuring
certainty in the most vital field of national life and
conformity with public policy. The rule further takes
account of the needs of modern life and makes due allowance
to accommodate them. Above all, it gives protection to
women, the most vulnerable section of our society, whatever
the strata to which they may belong. In particular it frees
them from the bondage of the tyrannical and servile rule
that wife’s domicile follows that of her husband and that it
is the husband’s domicilliary law which determines the
jurisdiction and judges the merits of the case.

14. Since with regard to the jurisdiction of the forum as well as the ground on which it is passed the foreign decree in the present case is not in accordance with the Act under which the parties were married, and the respondent had not submitted to the jurisdiction of the court or consented to its passing, it cannot be recognised by the courts in this country and is,therefore, unenforceable.

15. The High Court, as stated earlier, set aside the
order of the learned Magistrate only on the ground that the
photostat copy of the decree was not admissible in evidence.
The High Court is not correct in its reasoning. Under
Section 74(1)(iii) of the Indian Evidence Act (Hereinater
referred to as the “Act”) documents forming the acts or
records of the acts of public judicial officers of a foreign
country are public documents. Under Section 76 read with
Section 77 of the Act, certified copies of such documents
may be produced in proof of their contents. However, under
Section 86 of the Act there is presumption with regard to
the genuineness and accuracy of such certified copy only if
it is also certified by the representative of our Central
Government in or for that country that the manner in which
it has been certified is commonly in use in that country for
such certification.

Section 63(1) and (2) read with Section 65(e) and (f) of the Act permits certified copies and copies made from the original by mechanical process to be tendered as secondary evidence. A photostat copy is prepared by a mechanical process which in itself ensures the accuracy of the original. The present photostat copies of the judicial record of the Court of St. Louis is certified for the Circuit Clerk by the Deputy Clerk who is a public officer having the custody of the document within the meaning of Section 76 of the Act and also in the manner required by the provisions of the said section. Hence the Photostatcopy per se is not inadmissible in evidence. It is inadmissible because it has not further been certified by the representative of our Central Government in the United States as required by Section 86 of the Act. The expression “certified copy” of a foreign judgment in Section 14 of theCode has to be read consistent with the requirement of Section 86 of the Act.
16. While, therefore, holding that the document is not admissible in evidence for want of the certificate under Section 86 of the Act and not because it is a photostat copy of the original as held by the High Court, we uphold theorder of the High Court also on a more substantial and larger ground as stated in paragraph 14 above. Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal and direct the learned Magistrate toproceed with the matter pending before him according to law YN-Rao-DivorceInForeignCourtsNotValid.txt 4/11/2007 as expenditiously as possible, preferably within four months from now as the prosecution is already a decade old.

Appeal dismissed.

Is Foreign Divorce Decree valid in India


Foreign Divorce Validity in India
A foreign judgment shall be conclusive as to any matter thereby directly adjudicated upon between the same parties or between parties under whom they or any of them claim litigating under the same title except-
(a) where it has not been pronounced by a Court of competent jurisdiction.
(b) where it has not been given on the merits of the case.
(c) where it appears on the face of the proceedings to be founded on an incorrect view of international law or a refusal to recognize the law of India in cases in which such law is applicable.
(d) where the proceedings in which the judgment was obtained are opposed to natural justice.
(e) where it has been obtained by fraud.
(f) where it sustains a claim founded on a breach of any law in force in India.
So these six conditions are fulfilled by such foreign judgment/decree of divorce then it will be valid for dissolving such Indian marriage as has been held by the Supreme Court of India in several of its judgments. The very first condition is with regard to Jurisdiction of such foreign court, what it means that both or either of the parties should be residing in the foreign country where from such decree of divorce has been obtained. The second important condition is with regard to merits of the case for divorce, whether those merits considered by the foreign court to arrive on this conclusion or not. Next, a proper notice was served to the other party with regard to such divorce proceedings & the other party was assigned a sufficient time to file his or her defense against the case, hence following the principle of natural justice. There was no fraud or force involved in such case & both the parties either mutually agreed to surrender itself to such foreign court for getting the decree of divorce or neither of them objected to such foreign court proceeding with such matter & deciding it accordingly. Lastly the decree so passed by the foreign court should not be such which may not be executable in India. In your case if you both had agreed for going through such divorce in Spain through their Family Court having similar status as Indian Family Court, such decree of divorce was passed after considering all the merits of your case, both the parties were heard & their statements properly recorded by the foreign court & a proper judgment followed by the decree passed by such foreign court dissolving your marriage, then this will be a valid dissolution of marriage & the decree of divorce executable in India. Now should you get this decree of divorce declared as valid by the family court of India or not. It all depends on you or on the precondition as mentioned in such decree of divorce by the foreign court. Some foreign courts do put a condition in the decree to any such matter to become valid only after the Indian court or competent government authority gives its ascent of approval on such decree. In such a case you have to file an application in the Family court of competent jurisdiction as discussed above in India to get the approval & validation of such decree of divorce. Otherwise it is entirely on both of you to go in for Indian court validating such foreign divorce decree or not, for all purpose you both can proceed for second marriage if such foreign divorce decree was obtained keeping in mind all the prerequisite conditions as mentioned in section13 of the CPC. Try using the Foreign Family Court divorce decree for both these purposes if the Indian government/authorities don’t agree then get this decree validated by Indian