Wedding reception cannot be considered part of marriage ritual: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court recently observed that a wedding reception cannot be considered a part of marriage rituals and hence, the jurisdiction to file a divorce petition lies before the family court where the marriage ceremony took place and not where the wedding reception happened..Single-judge Justice Rajesh Patil, therefore, set aside an April 2022 order of a family court in Mumbai which had held that it has jurisdiction to entertain divorce plea by a husband since reception had taken place in Mumbai, though the wedding under Hindu Vedic rites was held in Rajasthan's Jodhpur. "In my view, there can’t be any doubt that a wedding reception can’t be called as a part of marriage ritual," Justice Patil noted in his order of April 15..The Court noted that the couple had last resided together in USA and not in Mumbai, where they briefly stayed for 10 days immediately after marriage. Therefore, the family court in Mumbai will not have a jurisdiction to entertain divorce plea, the High Court held.“The Family Court in Mumbai will have no jurisdiction, under section 19 (iii) of Hindu Marriage Act, to entertain Divorce Petition in Mumbai. The impugned order is quashed and set aside," the Court ordered..The couple had married as per Hindu Vedic rites in Jodhpur in 2015. Four days later, they held a reception in Mumbai. Thereafter, the couple stayed in Mumbai in her husband's parents' house for a few days before leaving for USA.In October 2019, due to matrimonial issues, they started residing separately in USA. The husband filed for divorce before the family court in Mumbai in August 2020 under the Hindu Marriage Act on the ground of cruelty.Four months later, the wife filed a divorce petition before a USA court, which is still pending for hearing.She also filed an application before the family court in Mumbai challenging the maintainability of husband's divorce plea claiming it was not competent to hear the same.After the family court rejected her application, she approached the High Court which proceeded to allow her appeal and set aside the family court order..Advocates Gayatri Gokhale and Sneha Jethwa appeared for the wife.Advcoates Siddharth Shah and Riya Rele appeared for the husband.[Read order]