In India, in matrimonial disputes, the laws favor women quite a bit more than they favor men. I would say it is ten times more difficult when the husband involved is an NRI.
Believe it or not, wives who are NRIs themselves, living in countries abroad, choose to come down to India, file their criminal case against the husband and the in-laws, and then fly back to their country of residence and continue living there.
It is only in India that the police, without the presence of the wife once she has filed her case and gone back, are free to hound the husband:
“Please come join the investigation; otherwise, within the next couple of weeks, we will open a lookout circular, issue non-bailable warrants, and start proclamation proceedings to seize your assets in India.” And obviously, the police don’t care.
You’re writing emails, sending WhatsApp messages, pleading with the investigating officer, “Please look at my proof! I am completely innocent! I have proof of my wife physically, emotionally, and mentally torturing me and my parents!
Maybe I have concrete proof of her having an affair! Maybe I have concrete proof that what she’s saying to you, what she’s given in her complaint, is completely false! Please consider this evidence before calling me to India!”
And the cops say, “We don’t care.” Even if you show up in India—taking that flight, spending those dollars, pounds, or rupees—and come down to India, it’s not like the cops say, “Oh wow, let’s look at this evidence and dismiss the wife’s case.
Let’s institute a case of malicious prosecution against her.” None of that happens. Instead, the cops say, “Where is our money?” If you don’t pay, they take you into custody under the guise of “joining the investigation.”
And as an NRI husband, you’re expected to pay a far bigger bribe than an Indian resident husband, and you’re troubled far more.
In fact, I have so many cases of NRI husbands facing extreme difficulties. One had his passport revoked by the regional passport office, and he had to challenge it in the high court of his state.
After one to one-and-a-half years of litigation, the high court reinstated his passport, stating, “Just because there is a 498A case pending against the husband, you cannot cancel his passport, for God’s sake!”
I’ve had husbands come to India and apply for anticipatory bail, only for the cops to fabricate some nonsensical story. Many husbands believe that if they return to India, their passports will be seized, and they’ll never be able to leave again.
While this happens in only about 1–2% of cases, it has happened to clients where, as a condition for anticipatory bail, their passports were ordered to be deposited with the court.
One particularly nerve-wracking case involved a man who consulted me a couple of months ago. He is not even an NRI—he is a citizen of another country, though of Indian origin. His wife, who also lives abroad, filed a case against him in India.
He came to India to attend a funeral, and I’ve seen this happen so many times—husbands try to avoid India, not just because of matrimonial disputes but due to a whole host of other issues. They want to sever ties, but when they do come back, they get arrested at the airport.
I’ve lost count of how many times this has happened. The wife files a case, and the police send notices in collusion with her to some hypothetical address of the husband in India or a random email ID.
They then show “service of summons” under Section 41A of the Criminal Procedure Code. After some time, a lookout circular is issued, non-bailable warrants are obtained from the court, and the moment the husband or his family members show up at the airport, they are apprehended:
“Sir, there has been a case going on against you by your wife—who, by the way, is back home cooking chapatis for me. This case has been active for the past two years. Now we must take you into custody.”
At that point, getting bail becomes very difficult. NRI husbands face a host of challenges—not just with the police but also regarding maintenance, alimony, and property disputes.
Many wives attempt to take possession of houses that their husbands purchased in India or inherited from their parents. That’s a whole other Pandora’s box that we can open on another occasion—otherwise, you’ll fall asleep listening to this