Lok Sabha Question No. 145 (STARRED), answered on 2016-07-27
Subject: Fraudulent NRI Marriages
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: CHANDRAKANT BHAURAO KHAIRE, HARISHCHANDRA DEORAM CHAVAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.145 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.07.2016

## FRAUDULENT NRI MARRIAGES

- † *145. SHRI CHANDRAKANT KHAIRE: SHRI HARISHCHANDRA CHAVAN:

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  cases  of  Non-Resident  Indians  (NRIs)  defrauding Indian  women  by  marrying  them  under  false  pretences  have been reported and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the  arrests,  if  any,  made  in  this  regard  during  the  last  three years;
- (c) the  number  of  persons  undergoing  trial  during  the  last  three years; and
- (d) the  constraints  faced  by  the  Government  in  minimising  the delays in such cases?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS (SHRIMATI SUSHMA SWARAJ)

- (a) to (d) A statement is laid on the Table of the House. *****

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF  THE  LOK SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  145  REGARDING  'FRAUDULENT  NRI MARRIAGES' FOR ANSWER ON 27.07.2016

(a) The Ministry has been receiving petitions from Indian women stating that their nonresident  Indian  spouse  has  hidden  the  fact  that  he  is  already  married  or  has  a  partner. Complaints  pertain  to  abandonment  of  the  Indian  woman  either  in  India  or  in  the  foreign country by the NRI spouse after the marriage.  Most petitions received from Indian women pertain to:

- i. Harassment and ill-treatment by the husband and his family;
- ii. Loss of communication with the spouse after he goes abroad;
- iii. Request for assistance in serving judicial summons for court proceedings in India;
- iv. Assistance in obtaining maintenance and child support from the spouse;
- v. Request for revoking and impounding passports of the spouse;
- vi. Request for repatriation of the spouse to India; and
- vii. Child-custody issues

(b) & (c) The  Ministry  does  not  have  data  regarding  arrests  of  NRIs  on  charges  of cheating Indian women by marrying them under false pretences. Foreign governments do not share such information with Indian Missions or the Ministry on grounds of confidentiality. Information regarding arrests made in India is not available with this Ministry as it falls under the purview of the State Governments.

(d) Since the NRI spouse resides outside India, following legal and other constraints are faced while addressing this complex issue:

- i. When  the  Indian  woman  files  a  case  in  India  or  in  the  foreign  country  seeking redressal and restitution of marital rights, serving judicial summons on the spouse becomes difficult as his address abroad is not known in most cases.
- ii. When the NRI husband is summoned to attend court proceedings in  India, Indian Missions and Posts have no means enforcing the order abroad, except when the other country accepts the request for mutual legal assistance. The problem gets compounded when there are competing court orders, one from an Indian court and another from a court in the foreign country concerned.
- iii. Revocation or impounding of Indian passports of the NRI husband is done by the Ministry only on the basis of a court order to this effect.
- iv. The NRI husband sometimes initiates proceedings for ex-parte divorce in the foreign country without giving the Indian woman a chance to represent her position in the case.
- v. Requests  for  repatriation  or  extradition  of  the  spouse  cannot  be  addressed  as  the Extradition  Treaty  can  be  invoked  only  in  criminal  cases.  Several  countries  argue that  cases  filed  under  Section  498A  of  the  IPC  do  not  meet  the  condition  of  dual criminality, which is essential for extradition cases.

Inspite of all these constraints, Ministry is taking various steps to provide assistance to the aggrieved women. The steps taken by the Ministry are as follows:

- a. Since the launch of Ministry's Grievance Redressal Portal 'MADAD' on 21 February 2015, 246 grievances under 'marital dispute' category have been received, of which 172  have  been  addressed.  Since  January  2016  Ministry  has  received  another  362 petitions  by  post,  email  etc  related  to  NRI  marriages  of  which  344  have  been addressed.
- b. Under a special scheme set-up by the Ministry, legal and financial assistance has been provided to nearly 85 Indian women if the husband resides in 13 countries (USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Singapore, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates). The amount provided enables them to initiate legal proceedings against the spouse, avail counseling and for sustenance.
- c. Ministry is providing information about legal options available to the Indian women; procedures to be followed for serving of judicial summons on the NRI husband; and lawyers and NGOs  in  foreign  countries who  can  assist the petitioners. This information has been posted on the Ministry's website.
- d. Many  Indian  Missions  have  designated  'Open  House'  meetings  during  which  any distressed Indian national can approach the Mission for assistance and guidance.
- e. Ministry  of  Women  and  Child  Development  (MWCD)  has  recently  constituted  an Inter-Ministerial  Committee  (IMC)  which  will  submit  recommendations  about  the legal  and  procedural  hurdles  faced  by  Indian  women  married  to  NRIs.  The  IMC includes  officials  from  MWCD,  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs,  Ministry  of  External Affairs and the NRI Commission in Punjab. We have recommended to MWCD that they  may  include  in  the  IMC  officials  from  Ministry  of  Law  and  Justice  and  the National Commission of Women.

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