more-in A recent directive of the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development that all Non Resident Indian (NRI) marriages solemnised in India be registered within a week has brought hope to all those concerned with growing cases of women abandoned by their NRI husbands. The directive assumes importance given the growing demand from various States including Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to put in place strict measures to initiate action against NRIs who abandoned their wives in India by issuing divorce notices while the women had no clue how to track them or the wherewithal to fight their case legally in courts abroad. Details of such marriages will be sent to the Ministry by all States to help it create and maintain a central database. This will make it possible for the Centre to revoke passport and visa of those who do not comply with the directive, and pave the way for deterrent action. Welcoming the announcement of Union Minister Maneka Gandhi, Tripurana Venkatarathnam, who recently stepped down as chairperson of Telangana State Women’s Commission, said it was the first step and hoped stricter measures will follow. A lawyer by profession, Mr. Tripurana as Women’s Commission chairperson had actively participated in workshops organised by National Commission for Women and organised many consultative workshops in the State. She submitted comprehensive recommendations on issues related to NRI marriages and Compulsory Registration of Marriages Act, 2002 to the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development for consideration in April, 2018. “I met Union Minister Maneka Gandhi and explained the plight of several women married to NRIs and deserted or unilaterally divorced by taking advantage of local domicile laws. I also suggested grant of ex-parte divorce by foreign courts be barred in case of marriages solemnised in India as per Indian law,” she told The Hindu. The move by the Union Ministry now makes it mandatory to register NRI marriages along with passport details of NRI grooms and other details such as social security number, residential and office addresses in the country of his adoption for keeping a tab on them. The States have been issuing look out notices for such NRI husbands who abandoned their wives to make them appear before the courts here without much success. The new directive should change the scenario, said police officials. M. Jagadeeshwar, director, Telangana Women and Child Development, said the department had been sensitising people on compulsory registration of marriage of any faith within a month with the marriage officer concerned, be it village panchayat secretary, municipal commissioner or deputy municipal commissioners in urban local bodies. Based on the documents furnished by the groom, bride and their families, marriage certificates would be issued. However, officials said there is no legal provision presently to prevent an NRI annulling his marriage through a foreign court. Further, the State is yet to get guidelines from the Centre on NRI marriages being registered within a week with details of passport. Mamatha Raghuveer of Taruni, an NGO, said the State Women’s Commission had been pressing for bilateral agreements with other countries to ensure that only Indian marriage laws are applicable to marriages solemnised in India. But the External Affairs Ministry was of the view that such bilateral agreements were not easy to accomplish. When a person becomes a resident of a foreign country, local laws would be applicable to him. If the credentials of an NRI groom are verified prior to marriage by parents through a help desk set up by the State as in Punjab and Haryana and details are uploaded by the External Affairs Ministry, it will be easy to pursue the case with the local embassies if something goes wrong later, she says. In the absence of legal remedies and legislations, Taruni with the help of Network of International Legal Activists (NILA) could guide the women trapped in bad marriages with NRIs in about 60 cases in two years.

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