Anubhav-Varsha marital discord: Family court dismisses actor-turned-politician’s divorce petition

Bhubaneswar: A family court in Odisha’s Cuttack city today dismissed a petition filed by actor-turned-politician Anubhav Mohanty seeking divorce from his actress wife Varsha Priyadarshini.

The family court has dismissed the divorce petition filed by Anubhav. The court also rejected the petition filed by Varsha seeking restitution of her conjugal rights, said Anubhav’s lawyer Lalitendu Mishra.

“Anubhav had moved the court seeking divorce on various grounds including cruelty and desertion. We had also furnished the required evidence. However, the court has rejected our petition. The court also rejected our opposite party’s plea for restitution of her conjugal rights,” said Mishra.

The actor-turned-politician will file an appeal petition in the higher court, Mishra added.

“I will decide my future course of action as per the advice of my lawyer,” said Anubhav, who was present at the court when the verdict was pronounced.

Varsha Priyadarshini’s lawyer Siddhartha Das said the family court has rejected Anubhav’s divorce petition. Anubhav had cited some frivolous grounds in his petition, added Das.

“The court has also dismissed our petition for restitution of conjugal rights. We will take decision regarding our next step after going through the court judgment in detail,” Das said.

Notably, the star couple got married in 2014. Anubhav, who has been elected to the Lok Sabha from Kendrapara in 2019, had moved a Delhi-based court in 2020 seeking divorce.

The divorce case was shifted to the family court in Cuttack following the Supreme Court’s intervention.

Earlier, the Orissa High Court, in its July 13 order, had directed the family court to dispose of the divorce petition in a time-bound manner.

Anubhav had approached the HC on the plea that the hearing on the divorce case was getting delayed at the family court.