Decisions of Interest

Supreme Court, Nassau County, improperly determined that a Hindu marriage entered into in India was valid, though it was performed before India codified the requirements of marriage, because such determination required the court to rule on the validity of religious matters in contravention of the principle of separation of church and state. Madireddy v. Madireddy, — N.Y.S.2d —-, 2009 WL 3209591 (2d Dept. 10/6/09) (Skelos, J.P., Covello, Leventhal and Roman, JJ.).

The parties' marriage allegedly took place in 1952, prior to the enactment in India of the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955, which codified Hindu Law relating to marriage and divorce. The plaintiff brought a divorce action in New York, and the trial court determined that the marriage was valid after delving into the question of which ceremonies were sufficient and necessary for a valid Hindu marriage between members of the Reddy caste of Sudras in the region of Andhra Pradesh, India, in 1952. The defendant appealed, contending that a determination as to whether he and the plaintiff were married in a valid Hindu ceremony improperly involved the court in a religious matter.