A groundbreaking judgment by Court of Cassation Abu Dhabi that witnessed the application of family law of India in UAE.

The team at MY FAMILY LAWYER achieved a significant victory in Abu Dhabi’s Cassation Court, successfully highlighting the importance of Hindu rituals in a Hindu marriage and their recognition under Hindu Law and UAE Law. The landmark judgment upheld the validity of a marriage solemnized according to Hindu rituals and mandated the Husband to register the marriage with the Indian Embassy.

The parties were married at one of Dubai’s most renowned hotels, in the presence of numerous guests, following Hindu traditions and religious rituals. However, despite living with his wife for over five months, the husband denied the marriage’s existence and refused to register it with the Indian Embassy.

The case was very complicated, especially since existence of this marriage was explicitly denied by the courts of first instance and the court of appeal in Abu Dhabi.

Our consultants and lawyers encountered several challenges, including persuading the court on the appropriate application of Hindu marriage law. This was achieved through a meticulous and thorough interpretation of the relevant legal provisions both under UAE and Indian Law.

At the same time, our team members had to delve into the details of the religious rituals of Hindu marriage, such as the Saptpadi ritual, which is circumambulation, (walking) around the sacred fire with a specific number of steps, which expresses (7) vows that each spouse makes to the other along with other Hindu ceremonies which we usually see in famous Bollywood movies.

The opponent tried to make the matter appear as if Hindu marriage is not considered binding on both parties merely because of walking around the sacred fire, and that it requires its official registration in records prepared for that purpose.

However, the Court of Cassation in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi carefully read the Hindu Marriage Law, our memorandums, precedents and applied it optimally and overturned two previous judgments that specifically refused the existence of this marriage.

The Court of Cassation returned with a new ruling accepting Hindu traditions and ceremonies performed during the marriage and obliged the other party (Husband) to register the marriage before Indian Embassy.

This case was one of the rarest of rare cases that added a new dimension to our experience in family laws of foreign countries that are applied and dealt with by the UAE courts.