<p>District Judge C K Chaturvedi allowed Strasbourg resident Jeevyabal Palani Sami's plea to declare her marriage with P Narasimha Rao as non-existent, saying Rao had concealed at the time of their marriage in 1981 that he was already married since 1958.<br /><br />"Petition is allowed and marriage between Jeevyabal Palani Sami and P Narasimha Rao is declared null and void by a decree of nullity under Section 11 of the Hindu Marriage Act," the court said, declaring that the marriage never came into being.<br /><br />The woman had told the court that her marriage was solemnized on November 25, 1981 in Delhi, but she later came to know that her husband, a resident of Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh, was already married to one Poornamma since 1958. Advocate Ajay Verma, appearing for the French woman, said Rao's motive behind marrying Sami was only to obtain French nationality.<br /><br />Verma added that Rao also planned to seek divorce from Sami and claim half the price of the flat that she had purchased in France with her hard-earned money. "Rao occasionally used to visit India to meet his old parents and relatives. In July 1998, when Sami was about to reach the age of superannuation from her service, Rao started behaving erratically and disclosed his plan to leave France and go to India after superannuation to permanently settle there," Sami's petition said.<br /><br />It added that Rao left France in July 1998 and when he did not return, she came to India and met Poornamma at the available address, who identified herself as Rao's wife.<br /><br />"I hold on evidence that Rao was married with Poornamma and it was subsisting when he married with Sami on November 11, 1981," said the judge. Rao's counsel, on the other hand, contended that his client had told Sami that he was a divorcee at the time of their marriage.<br /><br />He said Rao had given "customary divorce" to his first wife in the presence of their parents in a temple in July 1980 though he did not obtain the decree of divorce from his first wife from the court.<br /><br />The court, however, observed that Rao concealed the fact about his first marriage from Sami. "Rao has clearly concealed his earlier marriage even there though he was aware of the facts," the court said.</p>
<p>District Judge C K Chaturvedi allowed Strasbourg resident Jeevyabal Palani Sami's plea to declare her marriage with P Narasimha Rao as non-existent, saying Rao had concealed at the time of their marriage in 1981 that he was already married since 1958.<br /><br />"Petition is allowed and marriage between Jeevyabal Palani Sami and P Narasimha Rao is declared null and void by a decree of nullity under Section 11 of the Hindu Marriage Act," the court said, declaring that the marriage never came into being.<br /><br />The woman had told the court that her marriage was solemnized on November 25, 1981 in Delhi, but she later came to know that her husband, a resident of Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh, was already married to one Poornamma since 1958. Advocate Ajay Verma, appearing for the French woman, said Rao's motive behind marrying Sami was only to obtain French nationality.<br /><br />Verma added that Rao also planned to seek divorce from Sami and claim half the price of the flat that she had purchased in France with her hard-earned money. "Rao occasionally used to visit India to meet his old parents and relatives. In July 1998, when Sami was about to reach the age of superannuation from her service, Rao started behaving erratically and disclosed his plan to leave France and go to India after superannuation to permanently settle there," Sami's petition said.<br /><br />It added that Rao left France in July 1998 and when he did not return, she came to India and met Poornamma at the available address, who identified herself as Rao's wife.<br /><br />"I hold on evidence that Rao was married with Poornamma and it was subsisting when he married with Sami on November 11, 1981," said the judge. Rao's counsel, on the other hand, contended that his client had told Sami that he was a divorcee at the time of their marriage.<br /><br />He said Rao had given "customary divorce" to his first wife in the presence of their parents in a temple in July 1980 though he did not obtain the decree of divorce from his first wife from the court.<br /><br />The court, however, observed that Rao concealed the fact about his first marriage from Sami. "Rao has clearly concealed his earlier marriage even there though he was aware of the facts," the court said.</p>