1) if summon shave been returned with the remarks left you have to find her latest address

2) you can apply to court for substituted service ie paper publication for service of summons

3) summons would be published in 2 local newspapers one English and one in regional language

1.if you do not know her present location then you can file the suit stating her last known address,

2. if service of summons on that remains inconclusive as it appears in your case then you can apply for substituted service of summons.

3.Under substituted service of summons you can apply for newspaper advertisement and once that is done the court can proceed ex parte if your wife still remains absent in the case.

If wife does not appear in court or engage a lawyer inspite of service of summons by paper publication court can award you exparte decree

Order 5 rule 20 of the code of civil procedure should solve your problem. It is about substituted service. It is like this:

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Substituted service.- (1) Where the court is satisfied that there is reason to believe that the defendant is keeping out of the way for the purpose of avoiding service, or that for any other reason the summons cannot be served in the ordinary way, the court shall order the summons to be served by affixing a copy thereof in some conspicuous place in the court house, and also upon some conspicuous part of the house (if any) in which the defendant is known to have last resided or carried on business or personally worked for gain, or in such other manner as the court thinks fit.

(1A) Where the court acting under sub-rule (1) orders service by an advertisement in a newspaper, the newspaper shall be a daily newspaper circulating in the locality in which the defendant is last known to have actually and voluntarily resided, carried on business or personally worked for gain.

(2) Effect of substituted service—Service substituted by order of the court shall be as effectual as if it had been made on the defendant personally.

(3) Where service substituted, time for appearance to be fixed—Where service is substituted by order of the Court, the Court shall fix such time for the appearance of the defendant as the case may require.

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You can make an application to the court four substituted service under the above provision, and if after your application is allowed by the court, get the substituted service effected.clause 3 clarifies that the effect of substituted service by order of the court shall be as effectual as if it had been made personally on the defendant.

Would caution you to do this only with the advice of your local lawyer.

Adv. Nahush Khubalkar

Since you do not know her present address you can apply to the court for newspaper publication of summons. If she does not appear even after publication the court can proceed ex parte and grant you a decree of divorce.

Dear Querist

after publication, if she is not coming to court then the court has power to pass an order for ex-party proceeding and fixed the matter for ex-party evidence, after your ex-party evidence, the court may pass an order of ex-party divorce.

Feel Free to Call

Currently i do not know where she is staying.

Can u let me know how to proceed further in this scenario ?

Since the summons are returned undelivered, you may seek substitute service of summons by filing a petition under order V rule 20 seeking newspaper publication, which will bring you desired relief immediately.

ALso if she does not respond even after paper publication then is there any chance that the case would be declared as ex parte ?

That will be the last step to be taken to serve summons on her, if she does not responds to that, then the court will set her exparte and orders shall be passed for exparte divorce after you let in your evidence.