dowry victim (housewife) 21 April 2012

Husband filed rcr

Hi,

I filed a 498A and DV on my husband after which my husband filed an RCR.

I responded to the RCR only by submitting a counter with his cruelty details. I did not submit a petition for divorce.

He has closed his evidence and I have finished my cross-examination. I am planning to close my evidence in the next hearing. Can I submit a petition u/s 13A to the court now in the next hearing after I close my evidence.

If yes, what will the course of these two cases going forward. Will the RCR be stayed , and he will submit counter and we all will need to again face the cross-examination and present evidences all over again for the divorce case. Or, is it not needed becasue it is already over and the court directly proceed to the arguments stage and pass an order either granting him relief in his RCR or grant me a divorce.

If no, and if his RCR is dismissed on grounds of cruelty by him on me, then should I file a fresh petition and start a fresh divorce case all over. How much time will the divorce take in such cases?

Please advice.

Reply Follow

8 Replies

Anjuru Chandra Sekhar (Advocate ) 21 April 2012

You can submit divorce petition as part of your counter itself at any stage, even before the evidence while explaining the reasons why you do not want to continue your marital relationship with your husband. However, law should not allow Petition for RCR filed by your husband and Trial of your husband under 498A and DV to run parallel to each other. This is because if the family court admits the petition of your husband and orders in his favor then it makes no sense for a criminal court to sentence him to imprisonment under Section 498A and DV. It amounts to findings of one court contradicting the findings of another court. Similarly if the criminal court delivers verdict in your favor, then the Family court cannot decree in favor of your husband in RCR petition. Hence law should not allow both these to run parallel.

dowry victim (housewife) 22 April 2012

The 498A and DV are running in a court at my place while the RCR is at his place...

498A still has a long way to go...atleast 3-4 years....I do understand that the judgement in RCR will impact the verdict of 498A.

In DV also the judgement is yet to come...it may or may not come before the judgement for RCR does...Again I do understand that the verdict of one case will impact that of the other one...

My only question is can I submit the divorce petetion in this RCR now just before the argument stage or is it too late. And if I submit it now, will the divorce proceedings start all over or not?

Anjuru Chandra Sekhar (Advocate ) 22 April 2012

It is the duty of judge and court to hear whatever you want to say as part of your defense otherwise it amounts to violation of principles of natural justice. YOu can plead for divorce as part of your defense even at this stage and only after taking into account your arguments as to why you want divorce the judge will have to decide in your case. In fact it is essential for you to express your views as to why you do not want your husband's RCR be honored by court. In that process your pleadings contain a request for divorce as well. I hope the learned members of this forum would accept if one of the parties to such a case as this has to reject the grounds for RCR in that rejection itself one can find the grounds for divorce as well. Hence nothing is too late.