TVK chief Vijay's wife seeks court's nod to continue to reside in her matrimonial home

Chennai (PTI): TVK chief Vijay's wife Sangeetha, who has already filed a petition seeking divorce, has filed a new affidavit in a court seeking an interim order to allow her to continue to reside in her matrimonial home here until the disposal of the main original petition or until the actor-politician provides an alternative accommodation.

In her affidavit, Sangeetha said she has filed a main original petition under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, against respondent-Vijay, seeking dissolution of the marriage with him solemnised on 25.08.1999, at Chennai. She has also already sought fair and reasonable permanent alimony from Vijay.

Before filing the main petition, she said she made sincere efforts to secure a dignified and amicable dissolution of marriage by mutual consent. However, such efforts never materialised, and an amicable resolution could not be achieved.

Under such circumstances, she said: "On the contrary, the respondent, through his advocate, made it clear that the petitioner would not be permitted to reside in the matrimonial home if she chose to approach the court seeking legal separation." However, she said she does not have any other residential accommodation commensurate with the status of the family and also disclosed that she is a British national.

She underscored that she has been constrained to seek divorce in view of the reasons she had already explained in her main original plea. In that petition, she had declared that her marriage with Vijay has "broken down irretrievably." It was because of her husband's extramarital relationship with an actress. She had also alleged that Vijay subjected her to "persistent mental cruelty, neglect and desertion". If required, she had said she would implead the actress as the second respondent.

Considering all such factors, she requested the court to pass an interim order granting her the "right of residence," permitting her to continue to reside in her present matrimonial home, until the disposal of the main original petition or until respondent Vijay provides an equivalent alternative accommodation befitting his status.

She should be allowed all rights, amenities, and facilities available to her in her matrimonial home, pending disposal of the main original petition, and thus she must be rendered justice.

Sangeetha has filed her petition seeking divorce at a jurisdictional family court in Chengalpattu District near here.

The petition is likely to come up for hearing next month.