Bahrain court invokes Hindu Marriage Act in divorce case

Provision used to resolve personal status cases among non-Muslim expats

Bahrain’s High Administrative Court invoked the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 of India to grant divorce to an Indian couple.

The husband was demanding a divorce from his wife for deserting him for the last 10 years. Rule number 21 of Bahrain’s pleading law for disputes by non-Muslim complainants allows resolving personal status disputes by invoking the country’s law according to which the couple had registered their marriage. Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 deals with divorce.

It is, however, not the first time that a court of law in Nahrain has invoked the Hindu Marriage Act in divorce petition cases. In a similar case last year, Bahrain’s major civil court used the law in a divorce petition filed by a husband, who claimed that his wife had deserted him for two years.

The court, however, turned down his plea, saying he had failed to provide a witness or any other proof to back his claims. It also ordered the man to pay the litigation fees.