In a major change for Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay's personal life, his wife Sangeetha Sornalingam has withdrawn the divorce petition she had filed for him. The legal proceedings at Chengalpattu Family Court are now closed with the presiding judge dismissing the case after the withdrawal request.
The news is an unexpected turn to a legal matter that had attracted significant media attention in the region. Sangeetha Sornalingam had initially approached the Chengalpattu District Court to declare marriage as a divorce, claiming infidelity and mental cruelty against her husband.
As Vijay is a very well-known Tamil cinema actor and a political figure (also as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu), the filing immediately became a topic in the public debate.
The legal proceedings had suffered from problems when the matter was first considered for preliminary review. In a previous hearing, the family court chose to defer the proceedings without setting a new date when Vijay and Sangeetha didn’t show up for the bench.
At the time, family court observers said personal appearances are standard procedure in family court matters so that there is time for counseling or reconciliation work before formal proceedings proceed.
With the petition now officially retracted by Sangeetha, the court has disposed of the file, thus rendering all the pending legal decisions in the matrimonial dispute moot. Although neither side has made any public statement of the reasons for the withdrawal of the petition, the decision makes the court proceedings in Chengalpattu officially over.
The personal life of high-profile politicians often comes under scrutiny, and this case was no different. Vijay was a top film star and a state governor. Any developments in his family’s affairs were closely monitored. The settled court case puts an end to the legal tangle which had existed since the first filing and the subsequent postponement of the court hearing.
