Even if the couple has not divorced, the marriage stands dissolved, if the wife converts to a different religion, the Karnataka High Court has observed in a recent order.
Setting aside a session court’s award of compensation to the wife under Section 22 of the Domestic Violence (DV) Act, 2005, Justice Rajendra Badamikar ruled that the wife lost all the rights to compensation after conversion to Christianity.
The couple in this case were married in September 2002 and had two children. The second son died in his childhood.
Meanwhile, the wife had converted to Christianity and had tried converting her daughter, too. In 2013, she moved the magistrate court in Bengaluru, seeking monitory relief under the DV Act.
After the magistrate court rejected her plea in January 2015, the wife moved the sessions court. On November 13, 2015, the sessions court partly allowed her plea and directed her husband to pay her Rs 4 lakh as compensation.
The husband challenged this order, arguing that allegations of domestic violence have not been proved and his wife had converted to a different religion.
In his order, Justice Badamikar cited Section 22 of the DV Act, saying the compensation can be awarded in addition to the relief granted in a petition under Section 12 when domestic violence is established.
The court observed that in the instant case, both the courts have concurrently held that domestic violence is not established.
“There is also evidence on record to show that the revision petitioner/husband is suffering from a paralytic stroke,” the court said.
“However, the appellate court, only on the ground that still the marriage subsists and as she is unable to maintain herself, awarded compensation. But, under Section 22 of the DV Act, 2005, compensation can be awarded only if domestic violence is proved and in fact, in the instant case, after getting converted into Christianity the wife has lost all the rights vested in her,” the court further added.
(Published 08 November 2023, 21:59 IST)