MUMBAI, July 23: The Bombay High Court has ruled that the second wife of a married man, who is not divorced, cannot use her husband's name in public. Delivering the interim order, Justice S S Nijjar restrained Victoria Robert Crasto from ``representing, declaring or impersonating herself as the wife of Jimmy Sukhia.''The judge ruled that Armaity Sukhia had the legal right to protect herself as the lawfully wedded wife of Jimmy Sukhia. Therefore, until Jimmy Sukhia's first marriage was dissolved, Victoria could not declare herself as `Ms Sukhia' in public. However, the infant Karl Sukhia, born out of the second marriage, could be addressed to as son of Jimmy Sukhia, the ruling said.Armaity Sukhia, first wife of Jimmy Sukhia, had filed a suit alleging that Victoria Crasto was ``falsely claiming and styling herself as Ms Sukhia.''According to the notice of motion filed by Armaity, she was married to Jimmy in 1965 as per Parsi rites in Pune. The couple had two sons, of which one was married recently.She said since her husband Jimmy frequently visited Mumbai for business, he stayed at a flat. Victoria, she said, came in contact with Jimmy and started staying in the flat. In 1994, Armaity saw Victoria's name in the list of wives of Lions Club members. The name was displayed against Jimmy's name. Inquiries revealed that Jimmy had undergone a Muslim marriage with Victoria and the latter was publicly declaring herself as `Ms Sukhia'.Armaity claimed the illicit relationship had caused her tremendous mental anguish and social embarrassment in Pune and Mumbai, especially since the Carter Road flat was being used by Victoria for her business.The plaintiff has claimed Rs 25 lakh as damages. She also said that the Parsi law does not permit bigamy and therefore Victoria had no right to stay in the Carter Road flat.Victoria's counsel Anand Grover, however argued that Armaity's petition was not maintainable as the court was yet to declare Jimmy Sukhia's second marriage as null and void. Moreover, if Victoria had made false claims over her marital status (legally known as `jactitation'), only her husband Jimmy could take an objection. But, Jimmy continues to treat Victoria as his wife. The couple has a son named Karl Sukhia.Grover also claimed that Armaity knew about the second marriage since 1994, but did not raise her voice earlier. Grover argued that mental agony suffered by Armaity was not actionable in law. He also said that no person could be prevented from using a name. ``Law does not recognise any proprietory right in a personal name. No name flows from marriage. A married woman can retain her own name or adopt her husband's name or a divorcee can revert back to her old name.'' He said that an injunction against the use of Sukhia's name would cause irreparable loss to the three-year-old son of the couple.
