The key rule laid by the Supreme Court is as follows: If a couple is
married under Hindu law, (a) the foreign court that grants divorce must be acceptable
under Hindu law; and (b) the foreign court should grant divorce only on the grounds
which are permissible under Hindu Law. The two conditions make it almost
impossible for a Hindu couple married in India to get a legally valid divorce
from a foreign court since no foreign court is an acceptable one under Hindu
Marriage Act and also because no foreign court is likely to consider the
provisions of Hindu Marriage Act before granting divorce.
In a recent case (March 2012), Sunder and Shyamala tied the knot in Vellore district
in 1999, Sunder went to the USA within a year and did not communicate with
Shyamala after that. In 2000, she received summons from Superior Court of
California, which subsequently granted divorce despite the wife’s defence statement.
Madras High Court held that the Superior Court of California was not a court of
competent jurisdiction to decide the matrimonial dispute in this case.
The exceptions that Supreme Court has permitted to the above rule laid by it are as
follows in a case where husband has filed for divorce in a foreign land:
A) The wife must be domiciled and permanently resident of that foreign land AND
the foreign court should decide the case based on Hindu Marriage Act.
B) The wife voluntarily and effectively attends the court proceedings and
contests the claim on grounds of divorce as permitted under Hindu Marriage
Act.
C) The wife consents to grant of divorce
Exception A seems almost impossible. Exception B is examined in the next section.
Exception C means that the divorce is obtained by mutual consent and therefore the
courts of India do not want to interfere with it.
In general, it can be said that if the partner contesting the divorce actively attends the
divorce proceedings in the foreign court, the chances of his or her being able to later
successfully approach Indian courts against an unfavorable judgment of the foreign
court are very low. Indian courts, or for that matters courts anywhere in the world, do
not wish to encourage court-shopping.
The well-accepted universal principle of law can be stated as – If someone has
accepted the authority of a court, it cannot be open to the person to later
question the authority of the court.
Thus you may petition the court at Singapore for dissolving your marriage with her by a decree of divorce and giving an undertaking to bear the expenses for her travel to Singapore and back may if accepted by the court at Singapore, shall solve the purpose, but such of provision of law is not heard of as per Indian laws.
On further issues you may consult an attorney at Singapore because you want to involve local law of Singapore in this.