Sanju-Manyata face new troubles
Noreen Aslam

BOMBAY—South Goa district administration on Tuesday granted time till March 7 to actor Sanjay Dutt’s wife Manyata, to explain as to why her residence certificate in connection with her court marriage should not be cancelled. The authorities had kept Sanjay Dutt and Manyata’s marriage on hold after they suspended the residence certificate submitted by her to Sub-Registrar. The couple had submitted their declaration of marriage on February 7th, awaiting final signature, which needs to be done within 90 days. Another trouble facing the couple is that the newlyweds are stated to be expecting their first child. A newspaper quoted sources as saying that the couple tied the knot hurriedly because they have another announcement to make soon. In fact, the report claims that Dutt and Manyata first got married last year but they kept their wedlock a secret. Now, they have decided to make their marriage public through a formal ceremony because Manyata is expecting Dutt’s baby.
Surprisingly, there has been no response from Sanjay and Manyata to these reports. Not only that even the marriage pandit is understood to have confirmed that he had read mantras pertaining to a pregnant wife. Still another shocking report is that the couple had registered their intent to marry under Goa’s Portuguese Civil Code on February 7 since the code is a relatively progressive law which recognises a woman’s legal right to half her husband’s wealth. This shows that Manyata got her marriage registered in Goa as the law in the state entitles the wife to 50 per cent of the property. This has been come to light only now, according to a close friend of Sanju. The absence of Sanju’s sisters and his daughter living abroad in the marriage is also attributed to these factors. Later, Sanjay Dutt had refurbished his marital vows with his beautiful Manyata as per the Hindu rituals in Mumbai in the absence of his family. His sister Priya Dutt said that the she had no information about the supposed wedding and was not called for it. In the same breath she wished him all the very best. Among those present were Suniel Shetty, Nitin Manmohan, Bunty Walia.
According to reports, Sanjay had earlier married Manyata on Feb 7 at Goa in the presence of two marriage registrars. Incidentally, Dutt was shooting in Goa for Suniel Shetty’s production EMI’s project `Kidnap’ at the time of his civil marriage. However, the registered marriage in Goa has been kept on hold as the authorities there are investigating if the couple used forged documents to register their marriage there. Meanwhile, a Mumbai court has ordered the local police to look into the marriage after Mannyata’s ex-husband, Meeraj-ur-Rehman Shaikh, claimed that she has not got a divorce from him. The police probe report has to be filed by February 20. If the Meeraj-ur-Rehman Shaikh-Mannyata marriage is not dissolved, her marriage to Sanjay Dutt will not be considered legal, as it would amount to bigamy. Shaikh, currently in Mumbai’s Jail, has filed a petition in a Mumbai magistrate’s court pleading that he and Mannyata were married on April 5, 2003, and that they were not legally divorced. They have a two-and-a-half-year-old son who is currently living with Mannyata’s mother in Hyderabad.