In Brief
The petitioner sought a writ declaring that Canon Law is the personal law of Catholics in India and must be applied by criminal courts, particularly in cases under IPC Section 494 involving Catholic spouses who obtained nullity decrees from Ecclesiastical Tribunals. The Supreme Court dismissed the petition, holding that the issue had already been finally settled in Molly Joseph v. George Sebastian (1996). The Court reaffirmed that when the legislature enacts a statute governing a religious group's personal law, the statutory law prevails over customary or religious law. The jurisdiction to adjudicate matrimonial matters and grant divorces or nullity rests exclusively with District and High Courts, not with Ecclesiastical Tribunals.
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