The Indian government is going to bring a bill in parliament’s winter session against NRI husbands abandoning their Indian wives. The issue of wives deserted by their NRI husbands has been in news for long and a petition for stern actions against such NRIs has also been filed in the Supreme Court recently.
Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External Affairs spoke about the bill while talking to press on Nov.28 in Hyderabad, where she had gone to campaign for BJP as Telangana state assembly elections are scheduled for Dec.7.
She also said that her government has already launched an institutionalized mechanism to deal with this menace and 25 passports of such NRI husbands have already been revoked.
According to a PTI report, while replying to a question related to NRI husbands deserting their wives, Swaraj told reporters, “We have already launched an institutional mechanism, where you must have seen that 25 passports of such NRI husbands have been revoked. We are also bringing a bill in this session where some more measures are being taken against those husbands.”
On Nov.13, the Supreme Court of India agreed to review a petition filed by a group of women, who were deserted by their NRI husbands and have faced dowry harassment from them. The country’s top court also sought a reply from the central government on the demand for compulsory arrest of NRI men for abandoning their wives or torturing them for dowry.
The petition was jointly filed by eight women from Delhi, Pune, Bhatinda in Punjab and Puducherry. While raising the issue of fraud committed by NRI men in marriages, these women sought the protection of their rights from the court, according to an earlier report in the New Indian Express.
Last month, the National Commission of Women had said that the number of cases against Non-Resident Indian (NRI) husbands abandoning their wives in India has been increasing both at the national level as well as in Punjab, reported Hindustan Times.