Divorce granted by church court not legal, says Supreme Court

Divorce granted by church court not legal, says Supreme Court NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to give legal sanctity to divorce decrees granted by ecclesiastical tribunals, popularly known as church courts. This means anyone remarrying after such a divorce decree would be committing the offence of bigamy. A bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y

Chandrachud dismissed a four-year-old petition by Bengaluru-based octogenarian Catholic advocate Clarence Pais, who had sought legal sanctity for such decrees. He had pleaded that marriage and divorce among Catholics were governed by the church and in the absence of its recognition by law, unsuspecting men were facing prosecution for bigamy.

Additional solicitor general Neeraj Kishan Kaul said the apex court ruling in the Molly Joseph vs George Sebastian case in 1996 had settled the issue on the authority of church courts.

Kaul said the SC had ruled that "unless Divorce Act recognises the jurisdiction, authority or power of ecclesiastical tribunal (sometimes known as church court), any order or decree passed by such tribunal cannot be binding on the courts which have been recognised under the provisions of the Divorce Act to exercise power in respect of granting divorce and adjudicating in respect of matrimonial matters".