Duryodhana & Chawla

In the matter of *Duryodhana & Chawla*, heard before Johns J, the dispute concerned the validity of two purported marriages. The applicant, Mr Duryodhana, sought declarations regarding the status of his marital relationships with Ms Chawla.

The court was required to determine whether the marriage solemnised in India in 2010 between Mr Duryodhana and Ms Chawla was valid, and whether a subsequent marriage ceremony conducted in Adelaide in 2010 between the same parties was valid, or alternatively, null and void. The court also had to consider the consolidation of related files and the dismissal of an Initiating Application.

Johns J declared the marriage entered into by Mr Duryodhana and Ms Chawla in India in 2010 to be a valid marriage. Consequently, the court declared the marriage between the applicant and the respondent conducted in Adelaide in 2010 to be null and void, on the basis that a valid marriage already subsisted. The court also ordered the consolidation of the files numbered MLC4657/2016 and MLC8128/2017, and dismissed the Initiating Application filed on 31 May 2018.