Rajya Sabha MP Sasikala Pushpa got married to Dr B Ramaswamy on Monday morning in violation of a court order staying the marriage. The wedding will be considered as contempt of court.
On Friday, the Family Court in Madurai had stayed their wedding as Ramaswamy’s earlier marriage was still legally valid.
The Madurai court intervened on the basis of a complaint filed by one Sathyapriya, 34, who had alleged that she hadn’t yet officially divorced Ramaswamy.
Establishing that the marriage between Sathyapriya and Ramaswamy was valid, the court stated, “This court upon consideration of these circumstances finds that the petitioner has prima facie established the subsistence of a valid marriage and if at all the respondent wants to have another marriage, he has to seek a valid relief before the court of law and then also contract another marriage. Hence, under these circumstances, this court feels that it would be just and reasonable to stay the contract of marriage if any by the respondent with any other lady till the disposal of the main HMOP.”
In addition to the stay, the court had also directed Ramaswamy to ‘seek a valid relief before the court of law’ for ending his current marriage in order to get another.
According to the wedding invite, the event was to take place on Monday for a close circle of friends and family at the Lalit Hotel in New Delhi.
Speaking to TNM on Friday, Sathyapriya’s counsel said, “The judgement copy has stayed the marriage. It is enforceable from the time the order was pronounced. Beyond this, if they conduct a marriage, then it is contempt of court.”
On March 19, Sathyapriya had written to the Madurai district collector asking for a mercy killing in the event that her husband is returned to her.
In her letter to the Collector, Sathyapriya said that while their marriage had been fixed through a broker, things took a turn for the worse for the married couple when she informed him about the birth of their girl child. “Up until the child was born, we were talking happily on the phone. As soon as I had a girl child, he stopped talking to me. When I was able to contact him again, I told him we have a girl child and he said, I don’t want you or the girl child,” she wrote.