Key Facts

  • Supreme Court (N. Sridhar: Reddy vs. State of AP): Ruled that a foreign court's divorce decree granted on 'irretrievable breakdown of marriage' is invalid under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (HMA), as Section 13 HMA does not recognise it as a ground for divorce.
  • Section 13 of Civil Procedure Code (CPC): Foreign judgments are not conclusive in India if founded on a refusal to recognise Indian law or on a ground not available under applicable personal law.
  • Gauhati High Court: Held that possession of a PAN card, Voter ID (EPIC), or bank passbook does not constitute conclusive proof of Indian citizenship.
  • Madras High Court & Governance: Issued rulings on OBC status upon religious conversion and functioning of special corruption courts; meanwhile, PMO sanctioned prosecution of two IAS officers in the Velumani case.

GK Context

  • Only the Supreme Court: of India can grant a divorce on the ground of 'irretrievable breakdown of marriage' by exercising its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution (as reaffirmed by a 5-judge Constitution Bench in Shilpa Sailesh vs. Varun Sreenivasan, 2023).
  • Under the Citizenship Act,: 1955 (Section 9) and Foreigners Act, 1946 (Section 9), the burden of proving citizenship in Foreigners Tribunals in Assam lies on the individual.

Static GK

  • Article 142: Empowers the Supreme Court to pass any decree or order necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it.
  • Part II of the: Constitution (Articles 5–11) & Citizenship Act, 1955 govern Indian citizenship (5 modes of acquisition: Birth, Descent, Registration, Naturalisation, Incorporation of Territory).

Mains Analytical Framework

  • Private International Law &: Matrimonial Disputes: Protecting spouses from 'limping marriages' created by ex-parte foreign decrees.
  • Citizenship Evidentiary Standards: Clarifying the legal distinction between identity/tax documents (PAN/Aadhaar/EPIC) and statutory citizenship proof.