I never divorced Manyata, claims first hu

MUMBAI: A man who claims to be the first husband of Manyata, wife of Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, on Monday claimed before a court in Mumbai that he had never divorced her.

In fact, the date of divorce shown on the allegedly fake documents was the time when Manyata was six months pregnant, Mairaj-ur Rehman told magistrate Pankaj Shah through his lawyer.

As such, the divorce would not be legal according to the Muslim laws, his lawyer argued before the court.

Mairaj also claimed the cleric (Maulana), who claimed to have divorced Manyata and him, could not be relied upon as the latter had some cases pending against him. Also, Mairaj said he had never received any notice about the divorce.

Mairaj has challenged Manyata's marriage to Sanjay Dutt claiming his marriage to Manyata has not been annulled.

His lawyer also said that though Manyata claims to have divorced him, the divorce would be illegal under the Muslim personal law because she was pregnant at that time.

Despite Manyata stating on record that she had no children from Mairaj, he told the court that they had a son - Mustafa and he had video clippings and photographs showing all three of them.

The court has asked Mairaj to file a detailed affidavit contending all the arguments he wanted to submit and point out what material in the police's report was against Islamic laws.

The case will come up for further argument on Tuesday.