Even if a person is of Indian Origin but has taken to foreign citizenship, he or she would be out of the purview of the Indian Laws and hence cannot be proceeded upon. This was the judgment pronounced by a Division Bench comprising of Justices B.W. Sinha and L.S. Panta of the Supreme Court of India on an appeal filed by one Fatima on the ground that she is a citizen of Mauritius and hence cannot be proceeded against Indian Laws.
Ahmed Patel, son of the above Fatima Bibi had married an Indian girl in 2002. Both of them have Mauritius citizenships. Shortly after the marriage, the wife of Ahmed Patel returned to India from Kuwait wherein the couples were staying and lodged a complaint before a Magistrate Court in Gujarat to the effect that she was being physically and mentally tortured by her husband which was aided by her mother-in-law.
The Magistrate Court took cognizance of the Offence and issued summons to Fatima in 2005. Fatima contested this and both the lower court and Gujarat High Court dismissed her petition and hence the appeal before the Apex Court.
The Supreme Court had allowed her appeal and set aside the orders of the lower courts. In its judgment, it had observed that the cause of action arose in Kuwait and the allegations were against a Mauritian and in our constitutional scheme all the laws made by Parliament were primarily applicable only within the country and to crimes committed by Indians in foreign soils. If the accused is not a citizen of India, the order taking cognizance must be held illegal as the provisions of IPC or CrPC could not be applied in the instant case.
The judgment signals a caution to parents of legal perils in vying to marry their daughters to persons purported to be working or living abroad or brides who take independent decisions in such matters and rushing into marriages without verifications.
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