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NRI MARRIAGE


A NRI marriage, is constituted between a man/woman who is a indian citizen and a man/woman who is a NRI –( non-resident Indian), either as Indian citizen (when he would legally be an 'NRI') or as citizen of that other country (when he would legally be a PIO – person of Indian origin). 'NRI marriages', as generally understood, are between an Indian woman from India and an Indian man residing in another country. Indian families in the hope for a lucrative marriage offer, forget to critically analyse the kind of problems that can occur, in the course of the marriage and after it. The woman ;if ever such a problem arises is thus pushed into an alien place, far away from home, isolated and helpless monetarily and legally. Thus during such a time the woman's recourse to justice is greatly constrained and complex.

COMMON ISSUES IN NRI MARRIAGES


1.The NRI after taking the marriage sum of money and gifts ,vanishes even before the marriage leaving the woman abandoned.
2.The woman is made to flee or forcefully sent back from the foreign country, by means of brutal physical assault and continuous mental torture by her NRI husband.
3.Children being forcefully abducted or taken away from the woman.
4.Abandoned in the foreign country with absolutely no support or means of sustenance or escape and without even the legal permission to stay on in that country.
5.After going to the foreign country, realising that her NRI husband is already married.
6.Husband had given false information on any or all of the following: his job, immigration status, earning, property, marital status and other material particulars, to con her into the marriage.
7.Husband, taking advantage of more lenient divorce grounds in other legal systems, obtained ex-parte decree of divorce in the foreign country through fraudulent representations and/or behind her back, without her knowledge.
8.Woman was denied maintenance in India on the pretext that the marriage had already been dissolved by the court in another country.
9.Woman who approached the court, either in India or in the other country, for maintenance or divorce but repeatedly encountered technical legal obstacles related to jurisdiction of courts, service of notices or orders, or enforcement of orders or learnt of the husband commencing simultaneous retaliatory legal proceeding in the other country.

LAW ON NRI MARRIAGES
THE HINDU MARRIAGE ACT, 1955

(Act 25 of 1955)[18th May, 1955]

An Act to amend and codify the law relating to marriage among Hindus.
1.Nullity of marriage and divorce- Void marriages.- Any marriage solemnized after the commencement of this Act shall be null and void and may, on a petition presented by either party thereto, against the other party be so declared by a decree of nullity if it contravenes any one of the conditions specified in clauses (i), (iv) and (v), Section 5.
2.Voidable Marriages.- (1) Any marriage solemnized, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, shall be voidable and may be annulled by a decree of nullity on any of the following grounds, namely:-(a) that the marriage has not been consummated owing to the impotency of the respondent; or(b) that the marriage is in contravention of the condition specified in clause (ii) of Section 5; or(c) that the consent of the petitioner, or where the consent of the guardian in marriage of the petitioner was required under Section 5 as it stood immediately before the commencement of the Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act, 1978, the consent of such guardian was obtained by force or by fraud as to the nature of the ceremony or as to any material fact or circumstance concerning the respondent; or(d) that the respondent was at the time of the marriage pregnant by some person other than the petitioner.2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), no petition for annulling a marriage-(a) on the ground specified in clause (c) of sub-section (1) shall be entertained if- (i) the petition is presented more than one year after the force had ceased to operate or, as the case may be, the fraud had been discovered ; or(ii) the petitioner has, with his or her full consent, lived with the other party to the marriage as husband or wife after the force had ceased to operate or, as the case may be, the fraud had been discovered;(b) on the ground specified in clause (d) of sub-section (1) shall be entertained unless the court is satisfied-(i) that the petitioner was at the time of the marriage ignorant of the facts alleged;(ii) that proceedings have been instituted in the case of a marriage solemnized before the commencement of this Act within one year of such commencement and in the case of marriages solemnized after such commencement within one year from the date of the marriage; and(iii) that marital intercourse with the consent of the petitioner has not taken place since the discovery by the petitioner of the existence of the said ground. Presently this is the scenario when it comes to NRI marriages ,still a lot of changes are needed to make such marriages safe and lasting ;and not just any other way of fraud.


By,
SamikshaPatra,
Army Institute of Law


The cruelest lies are often told in silence From the past few years, cases related to NRI marriages are emerging and are acting as a major cause of concern. The major cause for this problem to rise is the growing fascination of Indians to marry off their daughters to NRIs. This greed of theirs makes them fall into the traps of fraud NRIs. Another reason which makes the brides suffer after being abandoned is the lack of legal awareness which can provide them justice. The problem faced by these brides is that either they are abandoned even before being taken by her husband to his residing foreign country or they are brutally battered, assaulted, abused both mentally and physically, malnourished, confined and ill treated and forced to flee or was forcibly sent back. To prevent such mishaps the Parliamentary Standing Committee has recommended that the government enact a comprehensive legislation or suitably amend existing laws for the protection of women against malicious NRI marriages. It observed that a few States facing problems of NRI marriages have made the registration of marriages compulsory and the government has also introduced the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill 2012, in the Rajya Sabha. The Amendment Bill provides for compulsory registration of marriages without affecting in any manner the State law making provisions for compulsory registration of marriage in their respective States.
To make it more effective, the photocopy of the valid passport of the NRI husband should be pasted in the marriage register maintained with the authorities before marriage certificate is actually issued to the parties. Pasting of mandatory certificate of marriage on the wife's passport may certainly provide documentary evidence and proof of her marriage, on being abandoned.
The judgment in Neeraja Saraph v. Jayant Saraph case shows the feasibility of suit for damages by wife in NRIs fraudulent marriages. It is also pertinent that the Court passed some obiter observations, which were as follows:
"Feasibility of a legislation safeguarding interests of women may be examined by incorporating such provisions as-
1.No marriage between a NRI and an Indian woman which has taken place in India may be annulled by a foreign court.
2.Provision may be made for adequate alimony to the wife in the property of the husband both in India and abroad.
3.The decree granted by Indian courts may be made executable in foreign courts both on principle of comity and by entering into reciprocal agreements like Section 44-A of the Civil Procedure Code which makes a foreign decree executable as it would have been a decree passed by that court."
Also to maintain the respect towards each other's law and order, there should be reciprocal treaties between India and other countries to tackle these problems.

SUBMITTED BY:
Raviena Bedi
2ND YEAR LAW STUDENT
ravienabedi.ail@gmail.com