The Supreme Court has upheld the removal of an injunction that had restrained a wife from pursuing divorce proceedings in England, stressing that anti-suit relief is exceptional and must respect judicial comity.
In MPB v VJB, 2026 INSC 1034, the court said the Alipore trial court acted prematurely because the English proceedings had not reached a final decision. London had also been the couple’s habitual centre of interests, including their matrimonial home and financial affairs.
The ruling does not decide the effect of a conditional divorce order later issued in Birmingham. Either party remains free to challenge any final foreign order before the competent forum. The judgment instead clarifies that Indian courts should not routinely interrupt an inchoate foreign matrimonial case, particularly where the overseas forum has a substantial connection to the marriage.
