Supreme Court Dismisses Plea Against Enforcing No-Fault Divorces Granted by UAE Courts In India

This divorce is granted in UAE under Article 7 of the Federal Decree-Law No. 41/2022 on Civil Personal Status. It reads as:

“Divorce by unilateral will: It suffices for a divorce to be sought end take place that either spouse expresses before the court his/her wish to separate and not continue with the marital relationship, without the need to justify this request, indicate damage or blame the other party.”

Thus, as per this law, a divorce can be sought without making any ground and there are no pre-conditions. Pertinently, this law applies to Non-Muslim UAE nationals and Non-Muslim foreigners residing in the UAE. Further, this decree under the no-fault clause can be implemented and enforced in India under 'the Bilateral Treaty 1999', where the UAE is treated as a reciprocating territory.

In the present case, the parties are non-Muslim foreigners residing in the UAE. Thus, they would come under the ambit of the above-mentioned law. The petitioner's grievance is that the implementation of such divorce in India violates her fundamental rights under Articles 14 and 21 of the Indian Constitution.

The facts of this case are that the Petitioner (wife) and the Respondent (husband) married in India. They lived in Cochin before relocating to Dubai. Therein, they gave birth to their son. As per the petitioner, later in their marriage, the Respondent left the matrimonial home. He moved to a new apartment.

Consequently, this Federal decree law was passed last year, making it easy for spouses to seek divorce. In her petition, Petitioner averred that the Respondent, taking advantage of the new law, filed for no-fault divorce.

“The Respondent No. 3 could not have filed for a no-fault divorce under Indian Courts both for want of provision for the same and because of any such action would be treated as unconstitutional especially in view of the Judgment in Shayara Bano Vs. Union of India (2017).” the plea contends.

The Dubai Court of First Instance has also issued a Notice to the Petitioner in the no-fault divorce case. Given this, the petitioner has pleaded to prevent the enforcement of such decrees in India. She also contended that such divorce, if granted in India, would be held unconstitutional as it violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Indian Constitution.

“The Article 7 of the UAE laws, decreeing no fault divorces which if implemented in India and given force of a decree through the mechanism of enforcement of decree through the mechanism of Bilateral Treaty of 1999 and the Notification of 2020 would adversely affect the lives of 3.5 million Indians living in the United Arab Emirates.,” the Petitioner pleaded.

The Supreme Court dismissed the petition stating :

"We do not find any reason to address the issue raised in the present petition in the given facts."

Case Title: Mrs. S v. Union of India., W.P.(C) No.-000051 / 2024

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