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Moot Problem (7th Sem)

Sangeetha married Sekar in 2007 and they had a son. Their marriage became unstable after Sekar had an affair and sent Sangeetha away. Sekar then married Mia under Islamic law, converted to Islam, and took the name Osama. He divorced Sangeetha at a village meeting. In 2015, Sangeetha began a relationship with Madhavan from her village and they married in 2016, having a daughter in 2018. Madhavan then learned of Sangeetha's prior marriage and divorce and filed for divorce, seeking custody of their daughter. The family court dismissed Madhavan's divorce petition, finding he was aware of Sangeeth

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274 views

Moot Problem (7th Sem)

Sangeetha married Sekar in 2007 and they had a son. Their marriage became unstable after Sekar had an affair and sent Sangeetha away. Sekar then married Mia under Islamic law, converted to Islam, and took the name Osama. He divorced Sangeetha at a village meeting. In 2015, Sangeetha began a relationship with Madhavan from her village and they married in 2016, having a daughter in 2018. Madhavan then learned of Sangeetha's prior marriage and divorce and filed for divorce, seeking custody of their daughter. The family court dismissed Madhavan's divorce petition, finding he was aware of Sangeeth

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36 Mohd Anas
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Moot Problem

Facts:-
One Sangeetha, resident of Chinnakonur, Mettur Taluk,
Salem District, got married to one Sekar, resident of
Andikarai, Mettur Taluk, Salem District in the year 2007
as per Hindu Rites and Customs. At the time of
marriage, she was 17.5 years of age, while Sekar was
21. Through the wedlock, Sangeetha begot one male
child, Kalicharan in the year 2008. The marital life of
Sangeetha became unstable after the childbirth as her
husband started having an affair with another woman
named Mia. When Sangeetha objected to this
illegitimate affair, she was subjected to insurmountable
cruelty at the hands of the said Sekar and furthermore,
Sangeetha was sent out of the house and custody of the
child was taken by the Sekar. With no place to go
anywhere, Sangeetha went to her parents' house at
Chinnakonur, Mettur Taluk, Salem District. She stayed
there for 6 months, in the hope that her husband Sekar
would come to take her back home. Thereafter,
Sangeetha and her parents decided to take matters into
their own hands and went to Sekar's house to confront
him on his failure to perform his marital duties. When
they went to his house, they found out that Sekar was
staying with Mia and married her according to Islamic
rituals. He also converted his religion from Hinduism to
Islam, as was suggested by Mia's relatives before they
could give their blessing for the marriage. In consonance
with the religious conversion, Sekar also changed his
name to Osama. Sangeetha was angry and distraught
after learning about this new development. She and her
parents sought the intervention of Village Panchayat to
resolve the matter. The village head called a panchayat,
and only the relatives and the concerned parties were
invited to it. During the session, Sekar (Alias Osama)
claimed that he doesn't want to keep Sangeetha as he
found her to be ugly, which angered Sangeetha. In her
confused and angry state of mind, Sangeetha started
abusing him and also threw a stone at Osama which hit
his face. Osama in his anger retorted that he doesn't
want to engage in any further conversation with
Sangeetha and her family, and uttered 'Talaq, Talaq,
Talag'. He further claimed that he has now divorced her
and has no responsibility towards her. Village head also
sided with Osama and asked Sangeetha and her
parents to leave and declared that Osama has divorced
Sangeetha. Disappointed from the entire ordeal
Sangeetha and her parents returned to their village.
However, she was still hopeful that Sekar (alias Osama)
would come to take her back one day, but this hope
became bleak after 2009 when through her relatives she
got to know that Sekar (alias Osama) and Mia left the
village and their whereabouts are unknown to anyone.
After hearing she became increasingly disillusioned from
her marital life and sought to start her life afresh. She
started studying again and also got a job at a school in
her village in 2014.
In 2015, a new teacher was appointed to the same
school, named Madhavan (26 years old). A relationship
developed between Sangeetha and Madhavan, who
resided in the same village and returned after
completing his education from Bengaluru. The couple
decided to get married and as such, the marriage was
arranged between Sangeetha and Madhavan by their
parents as per Hindu Rites and Customs, followed by
Reception on 31.12.2016. Through the wedlock with
Madhavan, Sangeetha begot one female child, Veni on
19.02.2018. Only after the birth of Veni, Madhavan
comes to know that Sangeetha was already married to
one Sekar and she begot one male child through that
wedlock and that Sangeetha and Sekar were not legally
separated before marrying Madhavan. After learning
this, Madhavan verbally abused Sangeetha, threw her
out of his house and asked her not to come back again.
He also took custody of Veni.
Thereafter, Madhavan filed a divorce petition under
section 11 of Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 before the
Family Court at Salem. He also requested the court to
grant him the custody of Veni. Subsequently, Sangeetha
also filed counter petition stating that the Madhavan who
belongs to the same village already had knowledge of
the marriage between her and the said Sekar (Alias
Osama) and prayed dismissal of the HMOP. She further
filed another petition under Domestic Violence Act, 2005
where she stated that she should be allowed to stay at
her husband's house and to have full access to her
child, Veni. During the proceedings, Madhavan informed
the court that the ancestral house in which he resides in
is named after her mother and hence Sangeetha cannot
claim right to residence. The Family court, Salem
consolidated the two petitions using its discretionary
power under Section 151 CPC and firstly, dismissed the
divorce petition filed by the Madhavan on the ground
that the Madhavan, resident of the very same village
cannot now conveniently take a stand that he is not
aware of the marriage held between Sangeetha and
Sekar.
Further, in the second case, The Family Court, Salem
passed a decree in favour of Sangeetha granting her
right to residence at her husband's place.
Now, Madhavan is approaching the Hon'ble High Court,
Madras challenging the judgment and decree passed by
the Family Court, Salem. The hon'ble High Court,
Madras is deliberating upon the following substantial
questions of law raised in the petitions.

SUBSTANTIAL QUESTIONS OF LAW

1. Whether any knowledge can undo the effect of the


subsisting earlier marriage of the respondent?
2. Whether or not the presumption of knowledge is
perverse?
3. Whether can a husband claim sole custody of a child,
if the marriage is void?
4. Whether a wife can claim the right of residence on her
mother-in-law's property?

Disclaimer: The facts stated in the present case are


fictitious and have been drafted solely for the purpose of
the competition. The facts, names, locations and dates
bear no resemblance to any person, event or happening
whether dead or alive any resemblance, if any found is
purely coincidental. This problem does not intend to hurt
the feelings of any section of society or to offend any
person.

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