Delhi High Court: No-Fault Divorce from U.S. Court Invalid Under Hindu Marriage Act

In Anubha v. Vikas Aggarwal, 100 (2002) DLT 682, the Delhi High Court examined a crucial question: Can a decree of “no-fault divorce” granted by a court in the United States be enforced in India when the marriage was solemnised under Hindu rites, and the wife neither consented to the divorce nor submitted to the jurisdiction of the foreign court?

The case arose when the wife filed a suit seeking a declaration that she was entitled to live separately from her NRI husband, along with maintenance and pendente lite expenses, after being deserted and subjected to cruelty shortly after marriage.

During the proceedings, she discovered that her husband had filed a divorce petition in the U.S. (Connecticut). The Delhi High Court restrained the husband from pursuing those proceedings for 30 days, but he ignored the order and went ahead with the U.S. case. When this came to light, the Indian court directed the husband to record his statement under Order X of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC). His continued absence led the court to strike off his defence and initiate contempt proceedings.

Despite these developments, the husband obtained a ‘no-fault divorce decree’ from the U.S. court. The key issue before the Delhi High Court was whether such a foreign divorce decree could be recognised or enforced in India.

The Court held that the grounds for divorce under U.S. law specifically, “no-fault” separation—are not available under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, which governs marriages solemnised under Hindu rites. Since the wife did not submit to the jurisdiction of the Connecticut court and never consented to the divorce, the decree was neither recognisable nor enforceable in India.

This judgment reinforces the principle that Indian matrimonial law prevails where the marriage is governed by the Hindu Marriage Act, and that foreign divorce decrees lacking mutual consent or jurisdictional validity hold no legal force within India.