Foreign Matrimonial Judgments Valid In Indian Courts If Parties Consented To Jurisdiction Abroad: Kerala High Court Reiterates

The Kerala High Court recently reiterated that foreign judgments can be accepted as conclusive in India where the parties voluntarily and effectively submit to the jurisdiction of the foreign court and consent to the grant of the relief, although the jurisdiction of the forum is not in accordance with the provisions of the matrimonial law of the parties.

Justice P.V Kunhikrishnan observed that in such circumstances, it was allowed to stray from the general rule that foreign matrimonial judgment can be recognized in India only if the jurisdiction assumed by the foreign court and the grounds on which the relief is granted are in accordance with the matrimonial law under which the parties are married.

The petitioner was an Indian citizen who currently holds a British passport. He got married in 2011 and filed for divorce in the Family Court in the UK. The divorce was finalised on November 30, 2022.

Since he wanted to remarry, the petitioner then submitted a notice of intended marriage under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 to the respondent Marriage Officer. However, the respondent did not act upon such notice.

Aggrieved by this, the petitioner approached the High Court. 

Advocate P Anoop representing the petitioner argued that in similar circumstances this court had delivered the judgment in Augustine Kalathil Mathew v Marriage Officer and he sought similar directions in this case as well. 

Government Pleader B.S Syamantak submitted based on the instructions received from the respondent that the petitioner had not produced the single status certificate or disclosed that he is a foreign citizen. It was also contended that the divorce certificate produced before the Marriage Officer was not clear. 

Justice Kunhikrishnan went through the law laid down in Augustine Kalathil Mathew (supra) and found that though the general rule is that a foreign matrimonial judgment can be recognized in India only if the jurisdiction assumed by the foreign court as well as the grounds on which the relief is granted are in accordance with the matrimonial law under which the parties are married, such judgments can be accepted as conclusive in India where the respondent voluntarily and effectively submits to the jurisdiction of the forum and consents to the grant of the relief although the jurisdiction of the forum is not in accordance with the provisions of the matrimonial law of the parties.

In the cited case, the materials on record indicated that the petitioner and his divorced wife had voluntarily and effectively submitted to the jurisdiction of the UAE Personal Status Court, although the jurisdiction of the said forum is not in accordance with the provisions of the matrimonial law applicable to them. In the circumstances, the Bench took the view that the courts in India were bound to recognise the divorce certification.

Following the dictum in the said decision, the Single Judge directed the Marriage Officer to immediately solemnise the marriage for which notice has been issued by the petitioner under the Special Marriage Act, in accordance with the provisions contained in the said Act.

As such, the petition was allowed. 

Case Title: Arun A. v. Marriage Officer

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Ker) 321

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