Govt mulls tougher NRI marriage laws

Now, Non-resident Indian (NRI) grooms will not be able to easily deceive their partner, who after arranged marriage desert their Indian brides and let off easily from Indian and foreign authorities in the absence of any stricter law. The Government of India in this regard has proposed to make marriage law stricter in coordination with specific legalities of other countries.

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In an inter-ministerial meeting chaired by Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi and in presence of Minister of State for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhury in New Delhi on Friday, several initiatives have been drawn in regards to the growing fraudulent NRI marriages.

In a move to protect overseas Indian wives, it has been proposed to implement compulsory registrations of marriages, proper identification and tracking system of NRI husbands, more effective serving of notices and summons, higher funding for defence of cases in foreign countries and bilateral agreements with foreign countries.

The Ministry in the meeting decided that all marriages solemnised in India should be compulsorily registered and pro-forma for registration of marriages should be uniform in all states with all relevant information that would help in identifying the persons.

It was also proposed to have additional column in the pro-forma for registration of marriages to record the social security number, passport numbers, and ID card/labour card of the individuals of overseas Indians.

To facilitate the process, the Ministry said that FIRs in such marriage disputes should be lodged without any delay. And States/Union Territories should immediately inform the Emigration Authorities on any such case to prevent fraudulent NRIs to leave India against court orders.

Besides, it was also decided to carry out talks with overseas Indian authorities especially United States of America (USA), United Kingdom (UK), Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where the problem is at acute level. Serving notice, summons, enforcement of maintenance orders also projected to be a part of mutual legal assistance treaties.

In this regard, a team of officers from Ministries of External Affairs, Law and Justice, Women and Child Development and Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs will visit those countries to hold discussions with local authorities and study their regulations to determine the clauses to assist Indian women deserted by overseas Indian husbands.

Moreover, it has also been decided in the meeting to solve the lodged plea of marriage isolation in fast tracks of family courts; it will ensure to make services of notices and summons faster. The ministry also decided to fund with US$1000 to each case to assist Indian women to defence their cases. In addition, Government is also seeking the possibility of creating a flexi-fund with the incorporation of Indian Associations.

It was also suggested in the meeting to launch a vast information campaign at all levels of society using media and Non-government organisation to make aware the brides and their families about the grim picture of NRI marriages and what sorts of precautions they should take before entering into marriage alliance with overseas Indians.