NRI Marriages In Chandigarh Punjab
An NRI is defined as an Indian citizen who resides outside of India. NRI marriages, as generally understood, are between an Indian woman from India and an Indian man residing in another country, either an Indian citizen or as a citizen of that other country. Common Issues in NRI Marriages include abandonment, physical and mental abuse, abandonment of wife in India with no visas, child custody, etc. In Neerja Saraph vs Jayant v Saraph, (1994 SCC (6) 461) the Hon’ble Supreme Court recommended formulation of legislation safeguarding interests of women in NRI marriages.
Law Governing NRI Marriages NRI Marriage Registration In Chandigarh Punjab
Applicable Law: NRI marriages and their validity, divorce, maintenance, child custody, succession to property, etc. are governed/regulated by the personal law under which an NRI marriage took place in India. In other words, if an Indian settles down abroad whether as PIO or NRI and if he/she had married in India, the marriage would be governed by the Indian law under which they married. If parties do not consent or file suit in an Indian Court, these marriages may have to then enter (when parties submit) the sphere of law of host country or private international law where there is the conflict of laws of different countries, which makes the issues therein a lot more complex.
Registration of NRI Marriage: After the 2006 judgement, all states have legislation for registration now. It is considered important for proving the validity of the marriage. An application for the registration shall be signed by each party to the marriage or by the guardian and presented before the Registrar in whose jurisdiction either party to the marriage has been residing for at least six months immediately preceding the date of marriage. All Sub-Registrars are registrars of Marriages under the Hindu Marriage Act and Marriage Officer under the Special Marriage Act. The Special Marriage Act provides for the solemnization of a marriage as well as registration by a Marriage Officer. Any marriage already celebrated can also be registered under the Special Marriage Act after giving public notice of 30 days. NRI Marriage Registration In Chandigarh Punjab
The Registration of Marriage of Non-Resident Indian Bill, 2019
It says every NRI who marries a citizen of India or another NRI shall register his marriage within 30 days. If the marriage occurs outside India, it must be registered with a Marriage Officer, who will be appointed from among the diplomatic officers in a foreign country. The Bill amends the Passports Act, 1967 to state that in case an NRI fails to register the marriage within 30 days, the passport authority may impound or revoke his/her passport. The Bill adds a provision to the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973. If the person summoned does not appear before the court, it may upload a warrant for arrest on the website. However, the Bill does not allow a late registration beyond the 30-day period. Unlike other laws, the Bill does not specify the minimum number of days abroad to qualify as an NRI.
Guidelines and Policies: Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs has brought out a guidance booklet on “Marriages to Overseas Indians”. A pamphlet entitled “Thinking of the marriage of your daughter with an NRI?” addresses precautions to be taken before entering into marriage alliance. The National Commission for Woman was nominated as the coordinating agency at the national level for dealing with issues pertaining to NRI marriages by Government of India. An NRI Cell was formally inaugurated which deals with complaints received from within the country and abroad. It brought out a pamphlet “Problems Relating to NRI Marriages-Dos and Don’ts”. NCW has also brought out a report on problems relating to NRI marriages, titled “The ‘Nowhere’ Brides” (4,274 complaints in 10 years). NRI Marriage Registration In Chandigarh Punjab
Custody of Child: A child brought without a proper court order or in breach of the court order could be sent back to the country of habitual residence as per Hague Convention of Civil Aspects of International child abduction. There is more international law but the take of Indian Courts has been to decide to keep in focus the welfare of the child. In Prateek Gupta Vs. Shilpi Gupta 2017 SCC OnLine SC 1421 the SC whittle down to the inference that welfare of the child is of paramount consideration and principle of forum convenience has no place in cases where custody of the child is disputed. Again in Ruchi Majoo v. Sanjeev Majoo (2011) 6 SCC 479, it was held that the interest and welfare of the minor being paramount, a competent court in India is entitled and indeed duty-bound to examine the matter independently. The court in Smt. Surinder Kaur Sandhu vs Harbax Singh Sandhu 1984AIR 1224 recognised that to allow the assumption of jurisdiction by another State in such circumstances will only result in encouraging forum- shopping. In Sarita Sharma v. Sunil Sharma (2000 (3) SCC 14) one of the contentions that were urged before this Court was that the removal of children from the U.S.A. to India was against the orders passed by the American Court. The Court held that the order passed by the U.S. courts constituted but one of the factors which could not override the consideration of the welfare of the minor children. In Dhanwanti Joshi v. Madhav under the Supreme Court held that in a non-convention country like India, courts are to consider the question on merits, bearing in mind that the welfare of the child is paramount.
Maintenance: In addition to Section 125 of CrPC, different personal laws also provide for different provisions for maintenance like Section 24 Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and Section 25 Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. In United India Insurance v. Patricia Jean Mahajan, the Apex Court deliberated on the principles that would apply to grant of monthly maintenance in NRI marriages. The Apex Court held that standard of living in India, cost of living in India and other related factors have to be considered as well as income of the husband in a foreign country and cost of living in the said foreign country. NRI Marriage Registration In Chandigarh Punjab
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Jurisdictional Issues of NRI Marriages NRI Marriage Registration In Chandigarh Punjab
Section 13 of the Civil Procedure code guides as to what judgements of foreign court are not binding in India. In Neerja Saraph Vs. Jayant Saraph, the court held that no marriage between an NRI and an Indian woman, which has taken place in India, maybe annulled by a Foreign Court. In Vikas Aggarwal Vs. Anubha a maintenance suit filed, the appellant-husband did not appear and filed an application for exemption which was rejected. In the appeal, the Supreme Court held that Order X CPC is only an enabling. It does not bar the court to seek clarification from any party. Y. Narasimha Rao & Others Vs. Y. Venkata Lakshmi is a landmark case, where both husband and wife were married in India under the Hindu Marriage Act. After the marriage, the husband obtained a decree of divorce from the State of Missouri. The husband alleged to the court that he was resident of the state of Missouri for 90 days preceding the institution of the petition and obtained a divorce decree on the ground that the marriage has been “irretrievably broken down”. The Supreme Court of India held that both on the issue of jurisdiction and the ground on which the foreign decree was passed were not in accordance with Hindu Marriage Act under which the marriage took place, thus falling in (c). The Supreme Court, therefore, held that the decree was not enforceable in India.
An Indian spouse may file a case for matrimonial/ divorce relief either at the place where the spouse habitually resides in the overseas country or in India, before a court where the NRI couple last resided preceding the filing of the case, or before a court within whose jurisdiction the wife is currently living.
Private International Law for NRI Marriages: These rules are applied to Indians (NRIs) when they bring a dispute in a foreign court about the matrimonial problems, child custody, movable and immovable property, succession, enforcement of divorce and maintenance decrees. Private International Law is a complicated and technical subject. Application of these rules needs special knowledge about Private International Law, and the answers depend on concrete situations or problems which may arise among PIO /NRIs or between an Indian national or a foreign national
OTHER LAWS (PENAL AND PROTECTIVE)
- Dowry: “Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, Section 304- B-IPC – Dowry deaths
- IPC: Section 498 A, 191 & 192(Evidence),323 (Hurt), 499 & 500 (Defamation)
- Domestic Violence Act, 2005
- Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) launched a scheme in February 2007 to provide financial assistance for obtaining legal aid/counselling through Indian Missions abroad.
- Compensation against desertion
- Contact in distress: Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Women and Child Development, National Commission for Women, National Human Rights Commission, the Indian embassy in the foreign country.
Author: This article was written by Nikita Sharma, B.A. LLB (Hons), and student of National Law University at Himachal Pradesh.
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