Foreign court divorce binding if one spouse stays abroad, says Calcutta high court

KOLKATA: Foreign courts can hear divorce and maintenance proceedings of a marriage solemnised in India if one of the spouses resides in that country, the Calcutta high court has said while setting aside a lower court order putting an injunction on a UK district court order in favour of the wife.

In its December 15 ruling, a division bench of justices Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Supratim Bhattacharya held that under the Hindu Marriage Act, it is specified a petition can be heard by "district court with the local limits" of the residence where a couple last resided.

The bench clarified that though under a different section of the same law, "district court" means Indian courts and not foreign courts, "taken in its true spirit and in a liberal perspective", the UK family court can have jurisdiction if prima facie the wife resides there and at least "the parties last resided together as spouses in the UK."

"It cannot be said outright that the judgment which might ultimately be passed in the divorce suit of the wife in the UK would be inconclusive in India," the judges said.

The couple got married in Kolkata on December 15, 2018. The husband first filed for divorce on Sept 4, 2024, at Alipore court. On October 10, 2024, the wife moved the UK court for divorce and the next day for maintenance. She said she had been residing in the UK since 2015 on student and work visas with occasional visits to India and they last stayed as a married couple in the UK.

On May 16, 2025, the UK family court directed the husband to pay maintenance. However, on Nov 1, Alipore district court put an injunction on that order saying the wife cannot proceed with her case in the UK.

The Alipore court reasoned that the husband had moved the divorce suit first and held that the UK court had no jurisdiction in the case as the wife was not a permanent resident of the country. It said the maintenance amount granted by the UK court was "onerous and oppressive" as it exceeded the earnings of the husband.

The woman challenged the order in the high court which heldeven if the pleas were filed by the wife later, the husband filed a response and adduced evidence in the UK court. "Prima facie, it is not credible that the husband is not in a position to contest the wife's divorce proceedings and alimony application in UK", the high court said.

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