India’s Ministry of Women & Child Development awaits nod for legal changes in NRI matrimonial disputes

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New Delhi, June 25 (IANS) The ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) on Monday said that it was waiting for a nod from the law ministry on legal and regulatory changes in NRI marriage cases before sending them to the cabinet for approval.

“The law ministry has approved the changes which they were opposing earlier. We have sent our proposals to them which were accepted in Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting. We are hoping that it will be sent to the cabinet after this week,” WCD Secretary Rakesh Srivastava said.

Earlier this month, a GoM meeting was held under the chairmanship of Home Minister Rajnath Singh and attended by officials from the External Affairs, Law and Justice and WCD ministries where new amendments on legal solutions for redressing the issues faced by women in NRI marriages were discussed.

According to the ministry, the panel has decided to make it mandatory for NRIs to register their marriage within seven days.

It was also decided to bring in necessary amendments in the Passport Act like impounding of passports and confiscation of the property of those NRI husbands who have been found guilty of deserting their wives and failed to appear in the court.

The official also said that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will now display the summons to NRIs who have abandoned their wives in India on their official website.

Last month, the MEA revoked the passports of five NRIs against whom Look-out-Circulars (LoC) were issued by the Integrated Nodal Agency (INA) – an inter-ministerial body formed to deal with matrimonial disputes.