Bobby Darling’s hubby seeks time

MUMBAI: Bandra family court on Tuesday adjourned to April 9 the hearing in divorce proceedings filed by film and TV artist Bobby Darling alias Pakhi Sharma after her husband sought time citing health reasons.
The artist also filed a rejoinder to rebut the claim to a legal point raised by the husband of the marriage being void as she was not born a woman.
The rejoinder of Sharma, in court with advocate Bhavana Jadhav, invoked the Oxford dictionary definition of ‘woman’ and cited a Supreme Court ruling in the transgender case to back her plea of her status as a woman pursuant to a sex reassignment surgery. It contended that the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA), under which the marriage was solemnized in 2016, did not specify that a woman is a woman only if she is born a female. Jadhav questioned the husband’s non-appearance and opposed the plea for time by advocate J G Ramchandani, who submitted a medical certificate issued to the husband for resting his back. The husband’s case was that since HMA recognized a marriage only between an adult man and woman, a transgender after surgery was not considered a ‘woman’ under it.
The case is likely to revolve around how a ‘woman’ is interpreted by courts and whether a ‘woman’ under HMA means a baby biologically a girl, by birth.
The court is likely to hear the matter next month.