In a major relief to actor Sanjay Dutt and Manyata a sessions court on Wednesday set aside a magistrate’s order which had asked them to appear in court to answer charges of adultery and bigamy.
The process had been issued by the magistrate after Manyata’s first husband, Mairaj-ur-Rahman, complained that she had married Dutt without getting divorced from him. However, judge S N Sardesai held that Manyata had given a proper divorce to Rahman under the ‘Khula’ system prevalent amongst Muslims and also recognised by Mohammedan personal law.
Thus the question of Dutt committing adultery did not arise, the court held while setting aside the magistrate’s order which required Sanjay Dutt and Manyata to come clean on the issue. Dutt’s lawyers had also been arguing that Manyata divorced Mairaj four years ago but he had done nothing about it until he heard that she was getting married to Sanjay Dutt.
Mairaj himself is currently in custody in connection with a criminal case where he is alleged to have sent obscene text messages to some Bollywood actresses. The court was told that legal process under section 494 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for bigamy and under section 497 for adultery against Dutt was not tenable as Manyata had given a proper divorce to Mairaj. The lawyers quoted several judgments to tell court that under the ‘Khula’ system a woman could give divorce to her husband by sending a notice to him through a qazi.
“We produced those notices in court that the qazi had sent to Mairaj informing him of the divorce from Manyata,’’ said advocate Rizwan Merchant. Merchant also said that there was no question of the divorce being invalid because Manyata had not sought Mairaj’s consent for it. “Under Muslim personal laws the husband’s consent is not necessary under the ‘Khula’ system and thus this divorce was perfectly valid,’’ Merchant said.
The process had been issued by the magistrate after Manyata’s first husband, Mairaj-ur-Rahman, complained that she had married Dutt without getting divorced from him. However, judge S N Sardesai held that Manyata had given a proper divorce to Rahman under the ‘Khula’ system prevalent amongst Muslims and also recognised by Mohammedan personal law.
Thus the question of Dutt committing adultery did not arise, the court held while setting aside the magistrate’s order which required Sanjay Dutt and Manyata to come clean on the issue. Dutt’s lawyers had also been arguing that Manyata divorced Mairaj four years ago but he had done nothing about it until he heard that she was getting married to Sanjay Dutt.
Mairaj himself is currently in custody in connection with a criminal case where he is alleged to have sent obscene text messages to some Bollywood actresses. The court was told that legal process under section 494 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for bigamy and under section 497 for adultery against Dutt was not tenable as Manyata had given a proper divorce to Mairaj. The lawyers quoted several judgments to tell court that under the ‘Khula’ system a woman could give divorce to her husband by sending a notice to him through a qazi.
“We produced those notices in court that the qazi had sent to Mairaj informing him of the divorce from Manyata,’’ said advocate Rizwan Merchant. Merchant also said that there was no question of the divorce being invalid because Manyata had not sought Mairaj’s consent for it. “Under Muslim personal laws the husband’s consent is not necessary under the ‘Khula’ system and thus this divorce was perfectly valid,’’ Merchant said.
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