Court reserves order on Sanjay Dutt's petition till May 28

Mumbai, May 21 (UNI) A local court today reserved its order till May 28 on the hearing of a revision petition filed by Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt and Manyata regarding their marriage.

After hearing both sides, additional sessions judge S N Sardesai fixed May 28 for passing the order.

Earlier, Adv Shrikant Shivade, representing Sanjay Dutt, told the court that as per the Muslim law, the kazi is the superior authority to conduct marriage and divorce proceedings.

Mr Shivade told the court that Mehraj Shaikh, Manyata's first husband, was aware that Manyata wanted a divorce from him. Yet, he did not challenge this in court.

Shaikh's counsel argued that the kazi, who claims to have dissolved the marriage between Manyata and him, is a bogus kazi and several cases are registered against him.

It may recalled that following Manyata's marriage to Dutt in Goa, Shaikh, who is currently in jail in an extortion case, had filed a case challenging the marriage. Shaikh had contended that the marriage was against the Muslim marriage norms which entails that without a formal divorce, a woman cannot marry another person.

Mehraj Shaikh had also told the court that he had not accepted the notice issued by the kazi on the divorce and had not given his consent for divorce to Manyata.

A metropolitan court had observed that as per the Muslim Marriage Act of 1939, the kazi does not have power to dissolve marriages, since the husband's consent is a must. The court had also disputed Manyata's claim that she and Mehraj Shaikh were divorced since there was no evidence to substantiate this.

UNI ST MAZ RL AS1351