1. Mr.

Rao belonging to an economically backward class family from Khandwa Desh, A

state of India and Ms. Sivakshi of an economically forward class family hailing from
Indraprastha another state of India were working in a Multi-national company in NCTR
(National Capital Territorial Region) since 2013; although their department were different
yet they used to meet often during lunch hours.
2. After sometime Mr. Rao having got a hike of Rs. 5000/-, changed the company. Later
after a gap of 2 years they met again at a wedding function of a common friend and
exchanged their contact numbers. They started chatting and this ended up in some
personal meets and the frequency of these meetings increased with time.
3. The venue of their meets spanned their homes, offices and coffee-shops. By 2017 they
realized that they were in love and eventually, got married with the consent of their
parents in 2019 according to Hindu rites and rituals, in Rostampur District, Khandwa
Desh.
4. They were happy in the initial days of their marriage, however on 15th day of marriage in
the morning when Ms. Sivakshi went to her office, she didn’t return to her marital home
until night; as time passed, all the family members got worried. Rao and his parents
tried to call Ms Sivakshi continuously but she didn’t respond to any of their calls.
5. On 16th day of marriage Rao and his parents visited her mother’s house and Sivakshi,
too, was there with her. Her in-laws and husband told her that this behaviour from their
daughter-in-law was unacceptable. Yet, they condescended to give her a chance and
wanted her to come back to her marital home again. To which, Sivakshi replied, that she
was not happy with her marriage and she would not come back. Sivakshi’s mother
interrupted and said that she would convince and send her back.
6. After 26th day of marriage, Ms. Sivakshi lodged a complaint at Mauj Khas Police Station,
Indraprastha under Section 498A, IPC that Rao and his parents used to torture her and
her mother-in-law used to taunt her that she had done ‘black magic’ on her son because
of which he fell in love with her, otherwise they were getting good proposals for his
marriage. She also showed injury marks on her hand and shoulder to the lady-constable
while lodging the FIR.
7. The Police investigated the matter but did not find any credible evidence; hence closed
the investigation, with the remarks that no offence was made out and the injury marks
appeared to be accidental in nature and no evidence sufficient to proceed was discovered
during the investigation; the police also cited that this was a normal practice of today’s
society to harass the in-laws, and the daughters-in-law often adopt such practices. During
investigation police also recorded statement of one of the neighbours of Rao wherein he
confirmed that Rao`s bike was damaged due to accident.
8. After that incident, one day when Rao was with his friend Paul in a bar, he started
crying. When Paul asked the reason for it, he confided that he had been in love with
Sivakshi but she left their home. She had said that she would not live with Rao in a small
house and wanted him to buy a villa or a big apartment. She also wished that they both
should start living separately. Rao even asked his friend for a loan to buy a house in order
to fulfil Ms. Sivakshi’s wish but still Ms. Sivakshi left and never returned though Rao
wanted her in his life and it was impossible for him to survive without her.
9. After listening to the story of Mr. Rao, Mr. Paul suggested that Mr. Rao could file a petition
for restitution of conjugal rights and after that Mr Rao filed a petition for restitution of
conjugal rights in the Family Court of Rostampur District, Khandwa Desh.
10. In the said petition, the court issued a process in the name of Sivakshi but it never reached
Sivakshi as she had moved from that place; on continuous failure to serve summons, the
Family Court passed ex-parte order in favour of Mr Rao.
11. Meanwhile, Sivakshi wanting to move to another state so that she will get a changed
environment as she felt disturbed here, she found a job in a company based in Chinna a
southern state of India. She moved to Chinna for her joining.
12. While at office she used to avoid gatherings but one day her boss Mr. S Subbarao asked
her the reason of such avoidance which she refused to answer.
13. After that, her boss started giving her extra attention, he started spending more time with
her in office and one day they met outside the office where she disclosed about her
marital disputes. She stated that her husband was an alcoholic and he used to mistreat her
and often harassed her physically and that is why she decided to come out from that toxic
relationship and left the marital home and moved to Chinna. On the very next day Mr. S
Subbarao proposed her for marriage and surprisingly she without any hesitation agreed
to enter into second marriage but Mr. S Subbarao advised her that first she had to get
divorce then only they would enter into a marriage.
 14. She filed a divorce petition in the Family Court, Naalpur district of Chinna on the
grounds of cruelty. Family court issued summons on the address of Mr. Rao but
unfortunately Rao having shifted to another place, the summons were not served. Under
the circumstances, the Family Court granted an ex-parte decree in favour of Sivakshi.
Following this, Sivakshi entered into a marriage agreement with Mr. S Subbarao.
15. On the other hand, Family Court of Rostampur District, Khandwa Desh gave the decision
in the favour Mr Rao but this decision did not benefit Mr. Rao anymore because Sivakshi
had moved out from his contact completely. He started going to the bar again, where he
met Mr. Paul.
16. Paul stated that he was looking for him for several days because he wanted to let him
know that the one he was dying for, was already available on one matrimonial site where
she was looking for a husband and stated a status of divorcee. But Rao said that they
weren’t divorced so it was impossible. To verify the fact, they went to Chinna to meet
Sivakshi, and Sivakshi narrated the story that she had decree in her favour from Family
Court of Naalpur district of Chinna and she was married to someone else and asked her
privacy to be respected. Mr Rao said that he also has an order in his favour for restitution
of conjugal rights and he would not let her go and wanted her back in his life.
17. Mr Rao approached the High Court of Chinna in appellate jurisdiction to challenge the
decree passed in favour of Sivakshi along with additional prayer that she should be
charged for bigamy and Sivakshi also challenged ex-parte order of restitution of
conjugal rights in High Court of Khandwa Desh.
18. Along with an application in the Supreme Court for the transfer of both the petitions in
High Court of Khandwa Desh was filed and Supreme Court transferred the same and
now the matter is listed before the High Court of Khandwa Desh with following issues: -

1. Whether decree passed in the favour of Sivakshi is valid or liable to be set aside?
2. Whether order of restitution of conjugal rights passed in favour of Mr Rao is valid or
liable to set aside?

Name of parties
Ms. Sivakshi v. Mr Rao

Note: All the laws enforced within the territory of India will be applicable.