Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Compulsory registration of NRI marriages within 30 days

INDIA'S foreign minister Sushma Swaraj introduced a bill in the upper house of parliament, the Rajya Sabha, that seeks the registration of marriages involving non-resident Indians (NRIs) within 30 days of the couples getting wed.

Introduced on February 11, the bill seeks to "safeguard the interests of Indian women trapped in fraudulent marriages with NRIs".


The proposed law will be applicable to NRIs marrying Indian women both within or outside India.

According to its provisions, the marriage - whether it is solemnised in India or outside – should be registered within a period of 30 days from when the couple ties the knot.

If an NRI man fails to do so, Indian authorities will have the right to impound or revoke his passport. It also allows Indian courts to issue summons through the designated website of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and attach properties belonging to the NRI - if he does not appear before the court.

The MEA introduced the bill following several complaints from Indian nationals, mostly women, who are either deserted or harassed by their NRI spouses and in some cases, left abandoned.

The bill has been championed by the MEA, the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Law and Justice and it is expected to serve as a deterrent for NRIs to use marriage as an "exploitation tool".

Swaraj said the Indian government revoked the passports of 25 NRI husbands for abandoning their wives.

Highlighting the plight of wives abandoned by NRI husbands, the National Commission for Women (NCW) wrote to the MEA, stating that "in many cases where despite the marriage having been solemnized in accordance with the personal laws of the country and in India, foreign courts decide the cases and dissolve marriages."

The MEA said it received hundreds of complaints about NRI men abandoning their wives abroad and subjecting them to physical and mental abuse.

It added that 3,328 complaints were received between January 2015 and November 2017 from Indian women deserted by their NRI husbands.

More For You

King Charles

King Charles, wearing a black armband to pay respects to the victims of Air India plane crash, attends the Trooping the Colour parade on his official birthday in London. (Photo: Reuters)

Air India crash: Victims remembered during King Charles's birthday parade

A MINUTE's silence for the victims of the Air India plane crash was observed on Saturday during the Trooping the Colour parade in London marking King Charles's official birthday. Some members of the royal family wore black armbands during the ceremony.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said King Charles, 76, had requested changes to the parade “as a mark of respect for the lives lost, the families in mourning and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy”.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rochdale grooming case

They were all remanded in custody, except Bashir, who absconded before the trial began. (Photo: Greater Manchester Police)

Seven men convicted of raping 13-year-old girls in Rochdale grooming case

SEVEN men were convicted on Friday in the UK’s latest grooming trial, after a jury heard that two girl victims were forced to have sex “with multiple men on the same day, in filthy flats and on rancid mattresses”.

Jurors at the court in Manchester, northwest England, deliberated for three weeks before finding the seven men, all of whom are of South Asian descent, guilty of rape.

Keep ReadingShow less
karan-thakar

Karun Thakar is a leading textile collector with a lifelong focus on Asian and African textiles

Karun Collection

Karun Thakar Fund to support textile research with scholarships and grants

THE KARUN THAKAR FUND, established by textile collector Karun Thakar in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), supports the study of Asian and African textiles and dress through scholarships and project grants.

The fund offers one-time Scholarship Awards of up to £10,000 for university students worldwide focusing on any aspect of Asian or African textiles and dress. Undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students from any accredited university are eligible, provided their research or practice is clearly linked to these areas. The next round of Scholarship Award applications opens on 1 May 2025 and closes at 23:59 on July 15, 2025.

Keep ReadingShow less
Air India

A view shows the wreckage of the tail section of an Air India aircraft, bound for London's Gatwick Airport, which crashed during take-off from airport in Ahmedabad. (Photo: Reuters)

Air India crash: Probe focuses on engine and flaps; safety checks ordered for 787 fleet

THE INVESTIGATION into the Air India crash that killed more than 240 people is focusing on the aircraft's engine, flaps, and landing gear.

The Indian aviation regulator has ordered safety checks on the airline’s entire Boeing 787 fleet, reported Reuters.

Keep ReadingShow less