HC order restores Lucknow doctor his ‘divorced’ wife

NEW DELHI: An order by the Allahabad high court overturning a trial court’s divorce order has left a Lucknow-based doctor in a peculiar situation. He now has two wives, technically.

The HC also directed the doctor to stay with his first wife despite him having married again. The court, without holding any trial also declared his second marriage null and void.

The doctor and his second wife have now approached the Supreme Court questioning the basis of the HC order.

According to them, the first wife had challenged the divorce order after the limitation period of 90 days.

His counsel Siddharth Bhatnagar told Hindustan Times that the woman moved the high court 128 days after the trial court allowed the husband’s petition for judicial separation.

“The appeal was filed a week after the doctor remarried, which was 117 days after divorce was granted,” he said.

“The order, which came almost nine years after the second marriage, causes grave prejudice to my client because his remarried strictly in accordance to the law that has certain created legal rights in favour of the second wife. This cannot be undone in such an erroneous manner,” Bhatnagar added.

During a hearing earlier this week a bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi advised all the parties to attend mediation.

“All of you are young professionals. We would like you all to settle the dispute amicably and not invite an order from us,” the court said.

A divorce petition was filed in family court in 2000 on behalf of the doctor who claimed his wife was cruel to him.

He accused her of mental harassment and physical abuse. He succeeded in getting the divorce in 2006 following which he got married again.

However, the wife moved the high court after the expiry of the limitation period.

The high court refused to accept the contention that the appeal was barred and invalid.

He condoned the delay and set aside the trial court order.