Additional Sessions Judge S N Sardesai, presiding over the case, took the matter for hearing in first session of the court. When the judge issued summons to Mehraj Shaikh, first husband of Manyata, to appear before the court, he did not turn up.
Shaikh, who is presently lodged in the Arthur Road Jail here in a extortion case, has filed a case challenging Manyata's marriage to Sanjay, arguing that she had violated the Muslim Marriage Act by not divorcing him formally. He has levelled charges of bigamy against her.
However, when he failed to show up in the court during second session, the court adjourned the matter till May 21.
Earlier, the Metropolitan Court had refuted Manyata's claim about her divorce with Mehraj, observing that as per the Muslim Marriage Act of 1939, the Qazi was not empowered to dissolve the marriage, and the husband's consent was a must. There was no substantial evidence to this effect, it had stated.
Mehraj, had in his application, stated that he had not accepted the notice issued by the Qazi on the divorce and had not given his consent for divorce to Manyata.