Greeva Garg –
Published on: September 3, 2021, at 10:10 IST
The Bombay High Court has rejected a petition filed by a man to restrain his estranged wife from filing a divorce case in the Matrimonial Dispute Body in Australia, where she presides.
The couple got married in 2004. They always used to live abroad in various countries for work, and have been in Australia since 2015.
The husband returned from India from Australia in 2019 and filed a divorce case before Family Court in Bandra.
An interim application for restraining the woman to initiate any legal suit abroad was filed by the man, but the Family Court rejected it.
After the rejection of the application, the man approached the High Court filing a petition for an anti-suit injunction.
The Bench headed by Justice MS Karnik took up the matter and found no reason to interfere with the order of the Bandra Family Court.
“Their stay in Australia cannot be regarded as a short stay for a temporary period, which otherwise could have been regarded as one of the factors for grant of an anti-suit injunction,” the High Court stated.
The High Court observed, “Foreign Courts cannot be presumed to exercise its jurisdiction wrongly even after one party is able to prove that the parties in the case continue to be governed by law governing Hindus in India.”
The Court told the couple that instead of waiting for the Court’s decision over the matter, they should try to resolve the dispute amicably and in the best interest of their child.
Also Read: Bombay High Court: No Divorce to a man on Grounds of Cruelty and Desertion against Wife