Ex Parte

The Court held that
ex parte decree
passed in the event of non-appearance
of the defendant without providing an
opportunity of hearing to him caused
prejudice to defendant and it is against the
principles of natural justice.
When seeking remedy against an ex parte

decree the Court before exercising its
discretion should satisfied that summons
were not proved to be served duly.
In the case of mutual consent divorce

decree, the decree granted by a Foreign
Court is considered to be legal, valid and
binding in the Indian Courts by the virtue
of Section 13 and Section 14 of the Civil
Procedure Code, wherein Section 13
enumerates the condition when a foreign
judgment would not be considered valid
Validity of a Foreign
Divorce Decree in India.
“Principles governing matters within the
divorce jurisdiction are so conflicting in
different countries that not un-often a man
and a woman are husband and wife in one
jurisdiction but treated as divorced in
another jurisdiction.”
The above-mentioned observation made by

the Supreme Court of India in the judgment
of Satya v. Teja Singh describes the issue
which arises when a marriage is formalized
under Indian law, but the party seeks
divorce in another jurisdiction. Well,
Marriage is considered a "sacred institution"
in India. When two parties marry, they are
usually governed by the laws under which
they marry. Two such parties usually marry
under their own personal laws, which
usually have statutory force. The simple
word used in it is "marriage". In India,
various personal laws govern marriages.
Marriages can be solemnized through
statutory or customary laws. However, the
jurisdictional issues faced in cases of
divorce where two different countries are
involved rest largely upon the domicile of
the parties. Hence, it becomes pertinent to
take a close look at the concept of domicile.
The non-applicant/respondent must be
served with notice of the foreign court
proceedings. Or else, the proceedings
would be taken in law to be a nullity i.e. of
no value in law. If this is a situation, Indian
courts are likely to declare the entire foreign
court proceedings as void.
Such an issue came for consideration

before the Supreme Court of India in Y.
Narasimha Rao and Ors. Vs. Y. Venkata
Lakshmi and Anr. In this case, both the
parties were married as per Hindu
customary law. Three years later, the
husband filed a divorce petition in a Circuit
Court in the USA. A reply was sent by the
wife from India under protest. The Circuit
Court, however, passed a divorce decree in
absence of the wife. Some years later, the
husband married another woman. Due to
this, a criminal complaint was filed by the
Mrs. Venkata Lakshmi for bigamy against Y.
Narsimha Rao. The court faced the question
that whether the first marriage was
dissolved in light of the decree passed by
the USA court. The Supreme Court
answered this issue in negative and refused
to recognize the divorce decree granted by
the USA court.
In the judgment, the court also cleared the

position of Indian law in such matters. The
court observed
that ‘The jurisdiction assumed by the foreign
court as well as the ground on which the
relief is granted must be in accordance with
the matrimonial law under which the parties
are married.’ The essence of this judgment
is that if two people are married as per their
personal law, then the divorce and the
grounds for divorce must be in accordance
with the same personal law.
A. Filing for the execution of foreign

court decrees passed in reciprocating
territories under Section 44Aof the CPC
read with Section 13 of the CPC:
Section 44A states that a decree passed by

Courts in reciprocating territories can be
executed in India as if the decree was
passed by the Indian Courts. These
“reciprocating territories” are notified by the
Central Government in the official gazette
by way of notification.
The Supreme Court held that a foreign
judgment which does not arise from the
decree of a superior court of a reciprocating
territory cannot be executed in India. It ruled
that a fresh suit will have to be filed
in India on the basis of the foreign
judgment. For the purpose of this, a
“superior court” is a court that has both civil
and criminal jurisdiction, and also has the
jurisdiction to hear appeals.
B. Filing for the execution of foreign

court decrees passed in non-
reciprocating territories:
In Marine Geotechnics LLC v.Coastal

Marine Construction & Engineering Ltd.[6],
the Bombay High Court observed that in
case of a decree from a non-reciprocating
foreign territory, the decree-holder should
file, in a domestic Indian court of competent
jurisdiction, a suit on that foreign decree or
on the original, underlying cause of action,
or both.
The decree-holder cannot simply execute

such a foreign decree. He can only execute
the resulting domestic decree. In case of a
non-reciprocating territory, the decree-
holder must file a suit on the foreign decree.
Only once the suit is allowed can it be
executed as a domestic decree in terms of
Order 21 of the Code of Civil Procedure. To
obtain that decree, he must show that the
foreign decree, if he sues on it, satisfies the
tests of section 13 of the CPC
as earlier discussed.
A suit on a foreign judgment/decree must be

filed within a period of three years from the
date of the judgment/decree under Article
101 of The Limitation Act, 1963.

Ex Parte

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Ex Parte

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The Court held that

When seeking remedy against an ex parte

In the case of mutual consent divorce

The above-mentioned observation made by

Such an issue came for consideration

In the judgment, the court also cleared the

A. Filing for the execution of foreign

Section 44A states that a decree passed by

B. Filing for the execution of foreign

In Marine Geotechnics LLC v.Coastal

The decree-holder cannot simply execute

A suit on a foreign judgment/decree must be

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