BENGALURU: Taking note of the husband marrying another women despite a suit for dissolution of the first marriage pending before a family court, taking shelter under the umbrella of Mohammedan Law, the Karnataka High Court dismissed a petition filed by the man seeking to quash the order passed by the family court rejecting his application for custody of the child born to his first wife, and imposed a cost of Rs 50,000.
“Now it has been well settled that the act of a Muslim man in espousing a second wife during the subsistence of first marriage, per se, amounts to cruelty and that not only the first wife can stay away from the matrimonial home, but seek divorce on that ground too. If the wife can stay away from the matrimonial home on the ground of second marriage, it goes without saying that she can normally retain the exclusive custody of her minor child...,” said Jusice Krishna S Dixit while dismissing the petition.
The court further said the first wife agreed to put an end to criminal cases and asked this court to quash them straightaway. However, the petitioner-husband was “unjustifiably adamant and stuck to his guns”, though he has been happily residing with the second wife and the child begotten from her, the court added while directing the petitioner to pay the cost to the first wife within a month, failing which all his visitation rights granted will stand suspended.
Verdict reserved on pleas against ban of online games
The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday reserved the verdict of a batch of petitions challenging the ban on online games in the state. A division bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice Krishna S Dixit reserved the order after hearing the arguments of the petitioners’ counsel and the Advocate General. The petitioners have challenged the validity of the amendment brought by the State Government to the Karnataka Police Act, to prohibit and criminalise playing of games of skill, including online games, by risking money or otherwise.