SC dissolves marriage after relations soured over 1951 Rolls Royce

The Supreme Court has finally dissolved the marriage of an estranged couple whose relationship soured over a 1951 model antique Rolls Royce car, which was ordered by first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for the erstwhile 'Maharani' of Baroda. The man will pay Rs 2.25 crore to the woman upon which all claims between them will be settled.

The car is valued at more than Rs 2.5 crore at present.

“In exercise of the power conferred upon us by Article 142 of the Constitution of India, we dissolve the marriage between the petitioner and respondent No.1. There shall be no relationship, matrimonial or otherwise, between them hitherto,” a three-judge Bench led by Justice Surya Kant said on August 29, quashing all the cases filed against the couple against each other.

According to the settlement reached between the parties, the wife will retain gifts given by the husband and his family while the man agreed to return all gifts received by him and his family — engagement ring, achkan buttons and 10 gram ginni.

The man handed over a Rs 1 crore bank draft and the gift items to the woman on August 29 itself and undertook to pay the rest Rs 1.25 crore by November 30.

The matter landed in the top court after the Gwalior Bench of the MP High Court quashed a case lodged by the woman against her husband for alleged dowry demand and cruelty.

The Bench had in November 2024 and asked the parties to explore the possibility of a mediated settlement. "If both settle the dispute amicably then there is nothing like that," Justice Kant had told senior advocate Vibha Datta Makhija, who represented the wife. It had appointed senior advocate R Basant as a mediator.

The woman, a permanent resident of Gwalior, claimed that she belonged to a highly reputed family whose ancestor was admiral in the navy of Chhatarpati Shivaji Maharaj and was declared ruler of Konkan region while the husband hailed from a family with an Army background and ran an educational institution in Madhya Pradesh.

She had alleged that her estranged husband and his family had harassed her with dowry demands of a Rolls Royce car and a flat in Mumbai, a charge denied by the man.

"For that the high court failed to consider that since inception the Respondent No. 1 & 2 had a mala fide intention of demanding the Rolls Royce car which is one of its kind and it is handmade by HJ Mulliner & Co. for Maharani Baroda Chimna Bai Sahib Gaekwad, ordered on her behalf by Nehru, and one flat in Mumbai."

"When the demands of the respondents were not met, they started denying the marriage and making false and frivolous allegations against the petitioner and started assassinating her character," she had alleged.

Challenging the high court order of December 5, 2023, she had said in her petition, "... it is clear that the respondent No. 1 (husband) and 2 (father of husband) have shown their fascination for the Rolls Royce car belonging to the father of the petitioner (woman) and in that context they expected to receive the said car in gift and with regard to flat at Mumbai and non-fulfillment of this dowry demand was precisely the reason for not taking petitioner to her matrimonial home."

The husband had lodged a case of cheating and forgery against his estranged wife, her parents and relatives in preparation of marriage certificate, while the woman lodged a case for dowry harassment and cruelty. Her FIR was quashed by the high court terming it as an afterthought.