ADMISSIBILITY OF DIVORCE DECREE
FROM DUBAI COURTS
Adv. Mohammad Sharafudheen
(Managing Director)
Legal Maxims Consultants, Dubai
Mob: +971 50 5093949
Email: md@legalmaxims.com
R ising incompatibility and varied
temperament between spouses have been
an inducing factor for the rising number
of divorce cases, especially with the Indian
expats living in UAE.
Today, marriage is no longer to be
considered as a sacrament and that;
spouses are ready to walk out of a
marriage, whenever they feel it’s a
hindrance to their peace. Needless to say,
numbers of expatriate Indian couples in
the UAE that are seeking divorce are
rapidly growing in the UAE courts rather
than in India. The main reason is the
efficiency and speedy procedures of the
court system in UAE, awareness of the
laws, the legal counseling on offer and the
applicability for private international
laws.
In order to dissolve a marriage, especially
relating to the Indian citizens residing
overseas, an Indian Muslim couple has to
apply under the Dissolution of Muslim
Marriage Act, 1939 and a Christian couple
should apply for a divorce under the Indian
Divorce Act, 1869. Similarly, an Indian
Hindu couple shall apply for a divorce
under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
However, recently the idea of efficiency of
UAE court system in granting divorce has
come into question. This is with reference
to a particular instance where the validity
of the divorce decree has been challenged.
The divorce was granted to an NRI living in
Dubai against his wife who had moved
back to Mumbai (India) along with their two
children. The judgement had hence been
challenged and the decision was
considered invalid and unenforceable in
India as ruled by the Bombay High Court.
The case involved the Indian couple who
got married in 2000 in Coimbatore as per
Hindu Vedic rites and then registered the
marriage in Mumbai. They later moved to
Dubai, where they had a son and a
daughter. Soon after the birth of their
daughter, the woman returned back to
Mumbai with their children.
In the year 2014, she filed a petition for
divorce and maintenance for her children
before the Bandra Family court. The man
furnished a divorce order obtained from the
Dubai court to counter her application. The
Bandra Family court dismissed the
women’s case in 2016. The family court
dismissed the woman’s plea citing the 2012
order of the Dubai court granting divorce to
the man on the grounds of desertion
following which she approached the
Bombay High court.
The Bombay High court ruled that the
decision by the Dubai Court could not be
enforceable in the Indian Courts
considering the nationality, religion and
the relevant laws governing the wife and
her husband. The division bench of justice,
ruled that the divorce petition filed by the
estranged wife before the Bandra Family
court could not have been dismissed on the
basis of the decision of the Dubai Court
and shall not be binding and enforceable in
India.
ADMISSIBILITY OF DIVORCE DECREE
FROM DUBAI COURTS
The Bombay High Court held that the
Dubai court has no jurisdiction to entertain
the petition in accordance with provisions
of the Hindu Marriage Act, unless it met the
three exceptions carved out by the
Supreme Court in a matrimonial case
involving Indians –
if the spouse against whom the petition had
been filed consents to have the case
decided by the foreign court;
or submits to the jurisdiction;
or when the person is domiciled or
permanently resides there.
The High Court further stated that as the
wife was residing in Mumbai; the petition
filed by the husband in the Dubai court
shall not be admissible as the wife had not
consented or submitted to the jurisdiction
of the Dubai court. The bench referring to
the documents filed by the man before the
Dubai court pointed out that it was
nowhere mentioned that she was a resident
of Dubai or had domicile. Neither an
averment had been made by the wife
abandoning her Indian domicile nor did the
husband claim he had made Dubai his
permanent abode.
In this case, the Bombay High Court
concluded that when the spouses are both
Indian and in the absence of the averments
as well as material to endorse the claim of
being domicile of Dubai, the presumption
that the foreign court had jurisdiction
stands dislodged. The Dubai court has not
considered the aspect as to intention to
desert and has granted divorce solely on
the grounds that the parties were living
separately for more than two years. It is
evident that the Dubai court had not
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considered the real controversy and hence,
it cannot be contemplated to be a judgment
in accordance to the merits of the case.
Thereby, in pertinence to this case, the wife
was not present and was not well informed
about the proceedings. The UAE Court
granted the divorce and custody of children
in the absence of the wife and the alimony
was solely determined by the court itself.
Thus, the ex-parte judgment will be
admissible only in the Courts of UAE but
will not be binding on the foreign courts.
A judgment by the UAE Courts which is
conclusive can be enforced in the Indian
Courts. The competent court for
enforcement of a foreign judgment is the
district court with jurisdiction to entertain
the matter in dispute or a high court
exercising ordinary original jurisdiction on
the subject matter of the dispute.
The UAE Court’s order must be conclusive
in order to be rendered enforceable. If an
appeal is pending against the judgment in
the UAE court of appeal, it will not be
deemed final and conclusive for the
purposes of enforcement. The judgment
must have the effect of res judicata in order
to become final and conclusive
In short, except an ex-parte decree, all the
divorce decree passed on merits of the case
from any court of law is admissible and
acceptable in any foreign courts including
Indian courts.
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