Battle lost in foreign court can't be fought in India: HC

NEW DELHI: In a clear message to NRIs, the Delhi High Court has said that a person who has submitted to the jurisdiction of a court in a foreign country cannot vent his grievances against a ruling abroad in an Indian court on the same ground.

The court passed the order while allowing a petition seeking the quashing of criminal proceedings on a complaint filed by the former wife of an NRI, who alleged that her in-laws were torturing her and not returning her share of joint property.

She lodged the complaint against her in-laws in a police station here after she lost a divorce case filed by her husband in a US court.

Justice S N Dhingra, while quashing criminal proceedings against the woman's in-laws, said "This is not a case where she had not submitted to the jurisdiction of the US court or the court had no jurisdiction.

"Once a competent court has passed an order in respect of return or exchange of dowry articles, no offence can be tried for the same articles in India."

Dhingra said "She lodged the FIR only to settle her personal scores. Criminal law cannot be allowed to be used to settle personal scores, neither can the courts be allowed to be used as tools."

In this case, the woman married a US-based NRI in 1993 and went with him to America, where she alleged that her husband used to harass her.

Five years after their marriage, the husband filed for divorce in a US court and the wedding was dissolved in 1999.

The court, while granting the divorce, had asked for the exchange of dowry and other articles. But it was not returned to her either by her husband or by her in-laws.

She then filed an appeal against the divorce in a higher court in the US but it was dismissed.

The woman returned to India in 2002 and filed a criminal complaint against her in-laws.

Her in-laws then approached the High Court for quashing the criminal proceedings against them, pointing out that she had lost the case in the US.