NATIONAL LAW SCHOOL OF INDIA UNIVERSITY BANGALORE ILYEAR V TRIMESTER MID-TERM EX, FAMILY LAW Marks 10 Time 1 hour Instructions 1. Students are expected to rely on the question paper as it is and respond to it. No clarifications can be sought. 2. Mobile phones are strictly prohibited inside the Examination Hall. Any one found in possession of a mobile phone will be subject to disciplinary proceedings. 3. This isan OPEN BOOK examination. Students are free to bring in all the ‘materials at their disposal. No exchange of materials will be permitted. You have just completed your Family Law 1 course and are doing a placement with a lawyer. You are asked to write your opinion on the following sets of facts with reasons for the same, a) A prominent panchavat member with a wife and two children has entered into a Gandharva marriage with another woman. The rules governing his employment disqualify him in case of bigamy. His wife and children do not challenge the second marriage. Other members of the panchayat claim he is automatically disqualified. b) Two prominent celebrities in India- Neel and Natasha, both Hindus enter into a prenuptial contract stating that if either of them wants a divorce on grounds that the marriage is irretrievably broken down, the other will not object to it and they would proceed for divorce by mutual consent. Natasha has an affair with a prominent industrialist, and asks Neel for a divorce. He refuses. She then files for a divorce on the ground that non compliance with the prenuptial contract is in itself cruelty and that courts must enforce prenuptial contracts. ©) Rashid, a Muslim man is married to Shabano, a Muslim woman. He does not have a job or income and lives off his wife's earnings. Afier ten years of marriage, he has a secret marriage with Farha, another Muslim woman. He keeps Shabano in the dark about this. She finds out after two years, leaves the house and files for divorce on the counts of bigamy and cruelty. Rashid in the meantime justifies his polygamy and files for restitution of conjugal rights. 4) Sooraj was in love with Chandni who was the most popular girl in college. She ‘was seen most in the company of Michael who was from an orthodox Christian family and often openly said that he could not marry Chandni. Sooraj andO} Chandni were good friends, but it came as a surprise to him when she declared to hhim that she was in love with him at their farewell party. One thing led to another, they were both drunk... a few days later Chandni informed him that she was pregnant, They got married immediately with the blessings of their parents and had a son followed by a daughter. Seven years into their marriage, in a fight with Sooraj, when Sooraj threatened to take the kids and leave, Chandni yelled “He is not even your son, you fool’. She retracted her statement immediately, but Sooraj got a DNA test done and realized that their son was not his. He wants to divorce Chandni the marriage and deny patemity of the child on that basis. Maria and Anand are two Christian youths aged twenty who get married against the wishes of their parents. Maria changes her mind after a couple of months and wants to get a divorce and pursue further studies. Anand is keen that the marriage should continue. stamens