IPC 498A

I am posting this here for the US based NRIs with marital issues.

They are a group often maligned by the radical feminists and by the media. What is never highlighted is the fact that these men are often used by their bitter halves to piggy back to the US and then dumped after these spouses get their green cards. They find themselves facing 498A and other cases in India especially after their spouses lose their case in the US court.

In an NRI divorce judgment, Justice Dhingra says:

“The decree passed by the court of USA has not been challenged by the complainant. She herself submitted to the jurisdiction of the USA Court and contested the case. She was living, at the time of contesting, the case in USA and continued to live in USA even after passing of decree till 2002. She even preferred an appeal, which was dismissed. Thus, it is not a case where decree was obtained by her husband clandestinely or she had not submitted to the jurisdiction of the US Court or the US Court had no jurisdiction. Once a competent Court has passed an order in respect of return or exchange of articles including dowry articles, no offence under Section 406 IPC can be tried for the same articles in India.”

NRI spouses with GCs are required to obey US laws, implicitly acceding to US jurisdiction. It is a responsibility, like paying taxes in the US, that they are REQUIRED to fulfil. This is an agreement they are signing when accepting the green card. These women may want to think twice before filing a case against their hubbies in India after getting their green cards. They may be faced with a contempt of court charges in the US if they try to challenge the divorce judgment in India after losing the case here.

Here is the text of the responsibilities:

• You are required to obey all of the laws of the United States, the States, and localities.
• You are required to file your income tax returns and report your income to the US Internal Revenue Service and State IRS.
• You are expected to support the democratic form of government and cannot attempt to change the government through illegal means.
• If you are a male, age 18 through 25, you are required to register with the Selective Service.

Here is the pdf: US Green Card Holders Rights And Responsibilities

Here is the link to the US CIS site where I pulled this information from.

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