Hi Friends,
Salient features of Divorce Case filed by my estranged wife :
1) Divorce case files u/s 13 HMA. Filed in Family Court in March 2011. Exactly one year after our separation.
2) I got the notice at the end of June 2011.
3) The First hearing of divorce case was on August 2011.
4) Since then we have been getting dates and every time counselling was done. During the month of May 2012 the chair of the Hon'ble Judge of the Family Court was empty so my estranged wife got frustrated and since she is very eager to get divorce from me and start her new life so she files and Application u/s 21 B(2) of the HMA which is for early disposal of her divorce case. She files this application through her lawyer in the Rajasthan High Court and her lawyer very cunningly sends me a scanned copy of the Writ petition on my email id two days before the first hearing date. I consult some of the High Court lawyers and one of my lawyer friend and they tell me to remain calm and wait for a notice to be send to me and after that only we would prepare our reply. All this while I was keeping a track of the case happenings through the website of the Rajasthan High Court. About a couple of dates might have been given and one fine day while I was taking a look at the status of the case through the Rajasthan High Court website I was surprised to see that the Status read : DISPOSED. I called up my High Court lawyer who appraised me that the case might have been decided. I asked him to get a certified copy of the judgement. My High Court lawyers calls me after a few days and tells me that the case has been decided in my wife's favour and that the judge has ordered her case (sec 13 HMA) to be closed over a period of 4 months. This was way back in October 2012.
It is highly surprising that I was not even served a notice for the same and High Court judge gave a one sided decision and accepted her application u/s section 21 B(2) HMA for a speedy trial. I was not given even a chance to put forward my reply and point of view for the same.
The proceedings in the Family Court till now are that issues have been framed by the Hon'ble judge which reads "whether the respondent has treated the petitioner with cruelty as per facts and circumstances as given in the divorce application filed by the petitioner". She has given her examination in chief and I have had taken one session of cross of my estranged wife. Now almost 1 month has left of these 4 months given by the High Court and the Family Court judge has given me a date in the weekday despite my best efforts of requesting him to give dates on Saturdays. The Family Court judge seems to be in a hurry and says that he has to give a decision in the case by 3rd week of February 2013. So in all probability he would call me 2 - 3 times in a week and I would have to come to Family Court at least 2 times on weekdays. I live in New Delhi and my estranged wife lives in Jaipur. On every Family court date I have to go to Jaipur to attend the hearing.
I am a Sr. Software Engineer working in a private software consultancy firm in Gurgaon. I am in a new project now and the project is in a critical phase. One cannot imagine taking leaves 2 days in a week for a period of over a month. Even otherwise if a person takes 2 leaves per week from his office then how would he work? and how would he earn his living? What would he eat to sustain himself. So frequent and so abundant leaves no private office would be willing to give. This way I would be risking and endangering my job. I would be asked to leave form the office. Already I am trying very hard to concentrate on my work and requseting for the court dates on Saturdays.
My Queries:
In this situation I am first planning to file a review petition in Rajasthan High Court. Already it is time barred but I would be filing section 5 application and would be giving appropriate reasons for the same. I would be filing this review petition as party in person and would be seeking a Stay on this order till my review petition is decided. Can some Constitutional remedy such as "Right to Life and Liberty" OR "Right to Earn a Living" OR any other constitutional remedy help me in this regard ? Can this point be taken in the review petition?
Please do suggest me as to how can I tackle this situation as otherwise my job and career would be in danger. I want to balance both things I want to concentrate on my job and career that is my first and foremost priority and On the other hand I want to fight divorce case filed by my wife and defeat her in her evil designs.
Thanks and Regards,
Sid.
