27 October,2017 10:06 AM IST | Mumbai | Sailee Dhayalkar
In the ongoing domestic violence (DV) case lodged by former model Rhea Pillai against estranged partner and tennis champion Leander Paes, the defence lawyers told the court that in none of her petitions filed before the Magistrate court, High Court
In the ongoing domestic violence (DV) case lodged by former model Rhea Pillai against estranged partner and tennis champion Leander Paes, the defence lawyers told the court that in none of her petitions filed before the Magistrate court, High Court or Supreme Court had Pillai ever mentioned a marriage between her and Paes in 2008 after her divorce from actor Sanjay Dutt.
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A photo that Rhea Pillai had submitted in court during a hearing on Tuesday
In their attempt to establish that there never was any such marriage, Paes' lawyers had earlier brought on record that Pillai has no pictures of the wedding. Pillai had stated that there were no witnesses, except for a friend who had seen the couple wearing garlands right after the ceremony.
On being questioned by Paes' lawyers, Aabad Ponda and Ishwar Nankani, Pillai admitted that her petitions did not mention the 2008 marriage, but they did mention a temple marriage that took place between her and Paes in 2005, when they had exchanged garlands.
Ponda brought on record: "There could never be a marriage by exchange of garlands - you being a Hindu and Paes a Catholic." To this, Pillai retorted: "By this observation, you are clearly calling Paes a liar. It is Paes who presented me as his wife in documents that were signed by him."
She also said, "...Subsequently, it has been stated in various places that we stayed in same house as husband and wife." She added that she did not have a marriage certificate, so the lawyers had advised her to state in her petition that they were a live-in couple.
Ponda further asked Pillai whether she mentioned the marriage to her lawyers before filing the Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court in 2016. Pillai replied that she had mentioned it to her lawyers but they used the same information filed in the first DV petition, as she was busy taking care of her child, who had a brain surgery in May 2016.
View photos: Rhea Pillai-Leander Paes custody battle: Latest developments
