• Does divorce have to be filed in Indian court

I married my wife in India in 2004 and we moved to London.
She cheated and so we went through the courts process in the UK and the divorce was uncontested.
Now I am being given conflicting information about the Indian process.
Do I still need to go to India to get the UK divorce recognised in India. Or is the divorce in the UK sufficient and require no further action?
I would like to remarry in the future and do not want to end up filing the wrong papers.
Asked 4 years ago in Family Law
Religion: Hindu

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26 Answers

You will need to file for divorce in India as an contested divorce decree by a foreign court is not enforceable and legally binding in India.

Only contested on mutual consent divorce decrease by foreign Court are legally binding in India. You are still  considered as married as per Indian law, so degree of divorce from Indian Court would be required for remarriage.

Siddharth Jain
Advocate, New Delhi
6303 Answers
102 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Hi

For your information Decree Absolute is completely valid in India. 

Kindly confirm about the decree you obtained in UK.

If its "Decree Absolute" , its valid in India. 

Thanks 

Rahul Jatain
Advocate, Rohtak
5365 Answers
4 Consultations

4.8 on 5.0

 Need not to be recognised in India.  When the decree passed by the UK court on merits , the said decree is valid in India.

 In case, if any one of the party filmed a divorce case in UK court and the other party was unable to appear  in UK court then the other party can approach Indian court to settle the matrimonial dispute. But in your case is concern,  both of you appeared  in the UK court and contested the divorce Case on merits, considering the same the UK court was the divorced decree on merits.

Therefore the divorce decree passed by the UK court is valid in India as per section 14 of the civil procedure code and the same need not to be certified by the courts in India.

Selva Perumal
Advocate, Chennai
339 Answers
36 Consultations

4.9 on 5.0

- You shall require to obtain the decree of your foreign Divorce judgement provided other party do not file any other case

- To register your marriage, if both parties are NRI or leaving overseas then may contact the Indian Embassy and needful for registration shall be done by embassy. You are not required to come to India only for this.

- Post marriage, it is advisable to inform your local District municipality with embassy documents to update the records.

 

 

Regards

 

Vivek Arya

Retired Lawyer
Advocate, Gurgaon
767 Answers
6 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

What was grounds on which you filed for divorce ? 

2) for divorce decree to be valid in India it has to be on grounds recognised by HMA 

 

3) further your wife has to participate in divorce e proceedings 

 

4) divorce decree passed by UK would not be sufficient for validation in India 

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94523 Answers
7485 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

There is no way to register the decree of divorce granted by UK court in India. 

However to avoid legal complications you can wait till your wife remarries.

if she does not have such immediate plan and you are in hurry then you will have ti file a fresh mutual divorce petition with consent of your wife which takes six months time to end.

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
22779 Answers
484 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

You can file petition for declaration that marriage is dissolved by UK divorce decree u der section 7 of family court act 

 

notice would be issued to your spouse 

 

if she does not object court can pass orders that marriage is dissolved by UK divorce decree 

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94523 Answers
7485 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Hello,

You need to file a divorce suit in the Indian court.

Regards

Swarupananda Neogi
Advocate, Kolkata
2963 Answers
6 Consultations

4.7 on 5.0

1. The decree passed by foreign courts on grounds not acceptable by Indian law is not considered as valid in India.

 

2. However, MCD decree obtained from foreign court where both the parties jointly signed the petition and consented for the divorce is considered as acceptable as per Indian law.

 

3. However, you shall have to get the said MCD decree passed by the foreign court validated by filing an application before the appropriate District Judge in India.

Krishna Kishore Ganguly
Advocate, Kolkata
27191 Answers
726 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1.You are required to just file an application praying for validating the said foreign decree of divorce obtained on mutual consent.

 

2. Both of you can sign staying at UK  before the appropriate officer of Indian Consulate and send the signed petition to your Indian lawyer for filing before the District Judge.

 

3. You can be represented by your lawyers to get the Court order validating the foreign decree of divorce obtained on the ground of mutual consent.

  

Krishna Kishore Ganguly
Advocate, Kolkata
27191 Answers
726 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. Since U.K. is recognised as one of the Reciprocating countries in India, there is no need for you to file afresh for divorce from Indian Court.

2. However, a certified copy of the decree obtained from a reciprocating country has to be submitted to the jurisdictional District Court for registering/recognising the decree in India. It's advisable that both the parties present themselves in the jurisdictional District Court.

Shashidhar S. Sastry
Advocate, Bangalore
5068 Answers
314 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Do you hold British passport or Indian passport? This can be trap to bring you to India

please book a consultation

Nitin Jaspal
Advocate, Gurgaon
36 Answers

5.0 on 5.0

The uncontested divorce obtained in UK for the marriage solemnised in India as per Indian laws, is not recognised as legally valid divorce.

You may have to apply for divorce afresh in India and without that, if she makes a complaint about your subsequent marriage, you are punishable along with your spouse under section 494 IPC and  It is punishable with imprisonment up to 7 years or fine or both.

So you think about it before entering into any decision in haste.

.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
84722 Answers
2172 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Yes the parties to the marriage along with the witnesses are to be present before the registrar of marriages to register the marriage that had solemnised between both.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
84722 Answers
2172 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Since it was not mutual and it was uncontested divorce you need to legally seek divorce from the Indian court as you were married in India the proper jurisdiction for divorce is indian court.

Shubham Jhajharia
Advocate, Ahmedabad
25514 Answers
179 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Yes the jurisdiction in your case shall be at place of wedding and notice upon your wife shall be served if she refuse it will go exparte.

Shubham Jhajharia
Advocate, Ahmedabad
25514 Answers
179 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. If your wife appeared for hearing in divorce case in UK court then divorce will be considered valid in India.

2. If divorce was Ex-parte then you have to file divorce petition here In India to make it valid divorce.

Mohit Kapoor
Advocate, Rohtak
10687 Answers
7 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

you are required to obtain a divorce decree from India and presence of both parties is necessary,

Suneel Moudgil
Advocate, Panipat
2380 Answers
6 Consultations

4.8 on 5.0

If you want any relied in India then you need a divorce in India. Otherwise your divorce in uk will be valid

Prashant Nayak
Advocate, Mumbai
31807 Answers
176 Consultations

4.1 on 5.0

1. The courts in India cannot dissolve a marriage which no longer subsists. Your marriage ceased to subsist after the passing of decree of divorce by the court in UK. The decree is valid in India for all legal and practical reasons.

2. You are free to remarry in India.

3. There is no provision in India to 'register' a decree of divorce.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Dear Sir

Foreign court decree of divorce or dissolution of marriage can be valid in India provided such decree is according to the provision of law in India as provided under section 13 of the Civil Procedure Code and Principle of law as laid down by the Indian courts. A foreign court divorce decree may be valid in India ONLY if the spouse had lived in that country and had consented to that country's jurisdiction.

when an ex-parte decree is passed by a Foreign Court, it would not be valid and conclusive in India. divorce obtained on grounds other than the grounds enumerated under the Hindu Marriage Act if the parties were married under Hindu Law, as a divorce matter is governed by the law under which one gets married and not the law of the land where the party is residing.

A foreign judgment can be executed in two ways in India. The ways are as follows:

First, by filing an execution under Section 44A of the Civil Procedure Code. Section 44A states that a decree passed by Courts in reciprocating territories can be executed in India as if the decree was passed by the Indian Courts only.

Secondly, by filing a suit upon the foreign judgment/decree. For instance, the decree does not pertain to a reciprocating territory or a superior Court of a reciprocating territory, as notified by the Central Government in the Official Gazette, the decree is not directly executable in India. Here the decree passed by the foreign court shall be considered as another piece of evidence

Netravathi Kalaskar
Advocate, Bengaluru
4952 Answers
27 Consultations

4.8 on 5.0

In case matter is uncontested, divorce as granted by foreign Court will not be applicable in India. 

Mohammed Mujeeb
Advocate, Hyderabad
19299 Answers
32 Consultations

4.7 on 5.0

It has to be declared as a valid decree in India.

Regards 

G.Rajaganapathy 

High Court of Madras 

Rajaganapathy Ganesan
Advocate, Chennai
2132 Answers
8 Consultations

4.9 on 5.0

Ans: Sir, you need to file for divorce in the court where your marriage was solemnised. If you had married in India you will have to file for divorce in India. Otherwise your wife shall take the defence that since she was never a party to the UK court proceedings, the divorce was granted against her and that it an ex-parte divorce which she may contest back in India.

Garima Anil Mehrotra
Advocate, Mumbai
514 Answers
1 Consultation

4.9 on 5.0

You both filed for divorce in the UK and hence the divorce decree is valid. You should file an execution application to execute the decree in India.

There is no need for a divorce petition in India.

Rahul Mishra
Advocate, Lucknow
14083 Answers
65 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

You only have to file an execution application.

Rahul Mishra
Advocate, Lucknow
14083 Answers
65 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

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