PONTY SINGH Vs. ANU SINGH BHATIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The plaintiff and the defendant in this suit for anti-suit injunction were married on 20th December, 1999 at New Delhi as per the Sikh rites and rituals. They left India and acquired British citizenship sometime in the year 2005. From the wedlock two daughters were born and they also acquired British citizenship. After staying in the United Kingdom for some years the entire family moved to Hong Kong and after a brief stay there they came to Singapore sometime in the year 2008 and thereafter they have been staying in Singapore only.

(2.) The plaintiff-husband claims in this suit filed on 27th March,2012 that his wife had perpetuated extreme cruelty on him, physical as well as mental. He claims that his wife is an alcoholic and consumes more than half a bottle of alcohol everyday starting from morning hours and after getting drunk she screams, shouts and creates an unpleasant atmosphere in the house and also becomes volatile and obnoxious. That behaviour of the defendant affected his personal life and business also and led to the filing of a Divorce Petition under Section 13 (1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 in the Family Court in Saket District Courts, Delhi (registered as HMA No. 252/2012).

(3.) The plaintiff had further alleged in the plaint that he was apprehending that his wife would initiate legal proceedings for the dissolution of their marriage in Singapore and, therefore, he was filing the present suit for getting the relief of 'anti-suit injunction' against the defendant restraining her from initiating any legal proceedings against him in Singapore or any other country for the dissolution of their marriage. The relevant portions from different paras of the plaint in which apprehension regarding initiation of legal proceedings by the defendant in Singapore against the plaintiff has been expressed and the justification has been given for the grant of the relief of anti-suit injunction to the plaintiff are being re-produced below:-