The Supreme Court has observed that a marriage solemnised in India cannot be automatically dissolved or stand null and void by a divorce order passed by a foreign court, reiterating that such judgments must satisfy the requirements of Indian law to be legally recognised in the country.The top court also specifically held that a foreign divorce granted solely on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage cannot be treated as valid in India when the marriage was solemnised under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.A bench comprising Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Shree Chandrashekhar made the observation on Tuesday while dismissing a man's plea seeking quashing of criminal proceedings initiated against him for bigamy and criminal conspiracy.The court held that a foreign divorce decree must meet the conditions prescribed under Section 13 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) before it can be recognised by Indian courts. "In our view, the foreign divorce decree was passed in contravention of the existing matrimonial law in India and on a ground that is not even recognised statutorily," the bench observed.It further stated that the decree violated the legal requirements under Section 13 of the CPC, which every foreign judgment must satisfy to be enforceable in India. The court emphasised that the validity of a marriage solemnised under Indian law cannot be determined solely on the basis of proceedings conducted in a foreign jurisdiction.It also rejected the argument that the husband's subsequent foreign citizenship and divorce proceedings abroad could absolve him of liability under Indian law."We cannot accept this submission in the manner canvassed as accused No.1/husband was married to respondent No.2/first wife in India under the Hindu rites, rituals and customs," the bench said.The court added that even if the second marriage took place outside India, the allegations under Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) could not be diluted, as an inquiry into bigamy must consider whether the first marriage continued to subsist.The case concerned a man who married his first wife on April 18, 2003, in Sattenapalli, Andhra Pradesh, according to Hindu rites and customs.The couple subsequently lived in Hyderabad, where the husband was pursuing his postgraduate studies at Osmania Medical College.On February 4, 2005, the husband moved to the United Kingdom to pursue a career as a doctor, and his wife joined him later.In August 2007, she returned to her parental home in Sattenapalli for childbirth.

The husband subsequently claimed that she did not return to the UK despite his repeated requests.As their matrimonial relationship deteriorated, the husband initiated divorce and child custody proceedings before a competent court in Narasaraopet, Guntur district.However, the proceedings were dismissed. He later approached the Andhra Pradesh High Court but withdrew the appeal.The husband acquired British citizenship on February 1, 2013, and subsequently approached the Cambridge County Court in England for divorce.In 2014, the foreign court granted him a divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage.

He later married another woman in Norfolk, UK.Nearly two years after the second marriage, his first wife lodged a complaint at the Sattenapalli town police station, alleging offences under Sections 494 and 120B read with Section 34 of the IPC.The Supreme Court refused to quash the criminal proceedings against the husband, while setting aside the proceedings against his parents and second wife.The ruling reiterates that foreign divorce decrees involving marriages solemnised in India cannot automatically alter marital status under Indian law.Such decrees must satisfy the statutory requirements, including recognised grounds for divorce, proper jurisdiction, principles of natural justice and absence of fraud.Consequently, a person who remarries on the strength of a foreign divorce decree that is not recognised in India may still face prosecution for bigamy.- EndsWith PTI inputs