Indian Court Reduces Waiting Period Requirement For Christian Divorces

Times of India reports that on Monday the Karntaka High Court ruled that the provision in Section 10A of India's Divorce Act 1869, the law that applies to Christian divorces, which requires a 2-year separation period before a petition can be filed for dissolution of marriage by mutual consent is invalid. The Hindu Marriage Act, the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act and the Special Marriage Act all require only a one-year waiting period.  In a public interest lawsuit, the Karntaka court relied on an earlier decision by the Kerala High Court which held that Christian divorces should also be subject to only a one-year waiting period. According to Indian Supreme Court precedent, the prior ruling of another High Court becomes the law of the land unless it is challenged in the Supreme Court. In that earlier ruling, the Kerala High Court said:

[T]he stipulation of a higher period of two years of mandatory minimum separate residence for those to whom the Divorce Act applies, in contra-distinction to those similarly placed to whom Sec 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, Sec 32B of the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act and Sec 28 of the Special Marriage Act would apply, offends the mandate of equality and right to life under Arts14 and 21 of the Constitution

Maldives President Refuses To Sign Sexual Offenses Bill Because of Conflicts With Shariah Law

Minivan News reported last week that in the Maldives President Abdulla Yameen returned to the parliament (People's Majlis) for reconsideration a Sexual Offenses Bill passed in late December by a vote of 67-2.  The President sent parliament a 46-page memo (full text in Dhivehi) setting out concerns the Attorney General had raised about the bill, including that some of the provisions are contrary to Islamic Shariah. After the Majilis passed the bill, Vice President of the Fiqh Academy Dr Mohamed Iyaz Abdul Latheef criticized the bill as inconsistent with Islamic law because it categorized as rape non-consensual intercourse with one's wife while divorce or dissolution proceedings are pending, during a mutually agreed separation, or in order to intentionally transmit a sexually transmitted disease. Dr. Iyaz said: "With the exception of forbidden forms of sexual intercourse, such as during menstrual periods and anal intercourse, it is not permissible under any circumstance for a woman to refrain from it when the husband is in need," even if the woman has filed for divorce. Also, he said, the woman's consent would not be needed when after a conditional divorce the man decides to renew the marriage during the waiting period.