Advocate Shantanu Bhagwat

Questions Answered by Advocate Shantanu Bhagwat

Q: Can whatsapp and facebook messages be used as evidence?

I am mother of 2 kids.and i have filed domestic violence case against my husband .. He was absent for 5 hearings..court has made ex party order for us. Last date he appered in front of court. the procedure is going on and 2days back i came to know that he has filed case against me under section 9in his native place. He says he have whats app and face book msges to show my character is bad.Which r fake. Pls advice me...one of lawyer says social media evidences are not going to entertained.is this so? I have eye witness to prove him guilty in domestic violence case. Pls advice me

Advocate Shantanu Bhagwat answered
Your husband has filed a petition under Section 9 means he wants to save the marriage...Then if he has messages which shows you have a bad character then the question is why does he wants to save the marriage? Social media evidences are admissible in Court provided he submits his mobile phone in Court by which he can prove that the WhatsApp messages are genuine. Please provide enough evidence in your domestic violence case to prove that he has caused domestic violence. Best of luck.

Q: Wants to stay with my husband but my in laws harassing me

I don't want divorce I want my rights to stay with my husband in his home made by my father in law but I am touchure by my sisters in law and brother in law please help

Advocate Shantanu Bhagwat answered
If you don't want divorce then you can file a petition for restitution of conjugal rights in family court and can file an application under Domestic Violence Act against your sister in law and brother in law.

Q: Father harassing wants to split from the family

I’m 20 years old, Gujarati. I’m tired of my father harassing me. And I want to split from the family. Do they legally owe me money?

Advocate Shantanu Bhagwat answered
Well if you are a female then you can ask for maintainance from your father till you get married by filing a petition for maintainance to that effect in family court or you can also file an application under Domestic Violence Act as well as suit for partition and if you are a male then you don't have much options but to file a suit for partition in a civil court.

Q: Wants to file a case for judicial separation from the husband

Procedures to file judicial separation. .Do I need to file a case and is the presence of my spouse important for judicial separation before the judge..?

Advocate Shantanu Bhagwat answered
No the presence of husband is not necessary. But frankly speaking Judicial Seperation is a waste of time and money. Instead if you want to get separated from your husband permanently, I would suggest you to go for divorce by mutual consent.

Q: Is it legal possible for second marriage without divorcing first wife?

This is Vanessa A John. Hi just wanted to know how is the verification done for court marriage in catholic also wanna know if a married person having an affair and wanna get married can it be done in Mantralaya how do you people come to know if he is married earlier need help immediately plz As this incident has happened with me and the register person said they do not verify the parties. I am married to my husband for the past eight years n there was a lady Clara Dsouza who took my husband to dubai later divorced her first husband n then got married to my husband in mumbai mantralaya court on 13-1-15 .I want to know what can be done as me having two children n my husband always visited us every year n he got married to this lady in 2015 n last year got twins from this lady n this lady knew he was married but now when I caught them red. Handed she is lying as she always blocked me when I told her he is my husband what can be done now as whenever I try contacting her she block

Advocate Shantanu Bhagwat answered
Well I am not aware of the verification though however your husbands second marriage is illegal and does not stand valid in the eyes of law. Now it's upto you whether you want to claim maintainance from your husband or file a criminal complaint for bigamy (an offence for marrying second time during the subsistence of first marriage). However you will need enough proof to substantiate your case.