Non-Muslim Indian expatriate couples who seek a quick divorce outside the country find that the divorce is not recognised in India, Indian lawyers told Gulf News.
They said Hindu Indian couples should apply for a divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act and Christians under the Christian Divorce Act.
The lawyers said non-Muslims opt to get divorced under Sharia law despite being given the option by the courts in Dubai to apply for a divorce followed by the Indian system.
Geetha Ramesh, a Dubai-based advocate, said she handles 10 to 15 such cases a month. She said: "I strongly suggest that the Indian consulate create some sort of awareness among the Indian community. I get about 10 to 15 Indian couples approaching me with this problem. They go in for a fast-track divorce and do not care about the consequences. As long as they are in the UAE, they are divorced but in India they are still a married couple. It is a funny situation."
Three types
She said couples go in for three kinds of divorce divorce by mutual consent, contested divorce, and court divorce.
In mutual divorce, both parties agree on all areas of separation; contested divorce means both parties fight it out in court for the custody of children, money, etc; and court divorce, rendering the marriage null and void.
" The bottom-line is that non-Muslim Indian couples should get their divorce as per their personal law under the Indian system. No matter where their divorce is granted, unless and until it is recognised by the court in India they remain husband and wife. For example if a Hindu woman goes ahead and remarries without getting a proper divorce as per the Hindu Marriage Act, her husband has every right to file a case of adultery and vice versa.
"This couple will fall into trouble when they renew their passports as they are required to give all personal details. If they go and get an ex-party divorce from the Indian court it is just for a temporary period. Ex-party divorce is granted when one of the spouses is not present before the court. The husband or wife can go to the court and object that he or she was not aware or properly notified. The court could ask the husband why he kept quiet for so long.
"In another case, if a Hindu couple get a divorce on mutual consent from courts over here as per the Sharia, all they need to do is to file for a divorce in the Indian courts on mutual consent and present the divorce petition they received here to the Indian court.
It will serve as a document of proof of living separately if the Indian court agrees to take it," added Ramesh.
Indian advocate, Mustafa Zafeer, said a Non-Muslim Indian couple going for a legal separation should produce the Indian personal law.
"Otherwise they will end up with complications later on. I have come across a case were a non-Muslim Indian couple had got divorced under Sharia law over here which led to legal complications. This is because of their lack of knowledge of the legal system. The courts here give options to a non-Muslim Indian couple either to go by their personal law granted by the Indian system or to go by the Sharia."
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