HC rules, State can register Non-Mutual Divorce from Foreign Court

The Kerala High Court has directed for registering a non-mutual divorce granted by a foreign shariah Court as both the parties jointly filed a plea to the HC. Divorce by mutual consent is non-existent in many countries.

Justice Anu Sivaraman directed registrar of marriage to record the decree of divorce granted by Shariah Federal Court in Sharjah after noting that both the parties have approached the HC together.

Naranganam panchayat in Pathanamthitta had declined to record the divorce & issue a certificate as the divorce was granted by a foreign Court.

Lawyer S Saju, who represented the parties, submitted that the petitioners, who got married under Christian rites, had obtained a decree of divorce from the shariah Court & that the panchayat is liable to issue a certificate of divorce as per Kerala Registration of Marriages (Common) Rules. 

The HC had held last year (Jithin Varghese Prakash Vs. Registrar of Marriage) that divorce granted by a foreign Court can be registered here, the lawyer argued.

As both the parties to the marriage are petitioners, there is no question of objection in the instant case, the lawyer told the Court.

Advocate Nidhi Balachandran, who represented the panchayat, submitted that the objection of the panchayat was that the decree was obtained from a foreign court. In case there is no objection, the divorce can be recorded, the lawyer added. 

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