Round One: Rhea 1, Leander 0

It seems as if tennis star and recent Australian mixed doubles winner Leander Paes may be doing fine on the court, but off it, problems continue to defeat him. In a major blow to the case he has filed against former partner Rhea Pillai for custody of his daughter Aiyana, the Bandra Metropolitan Court has dismissed the preliminary petition he had filed stating that since the couple was not married, the court did not have jurisdiction to hear their case. In addition, as per the petition, Rhea could not be party to the custody petition for their daughter.

Judge Shende Kulkarni ruled that Rhea was the aggrieved party under the provisions of the Domestic Violence Act since they had both agreed that they did live together and have a child - and was indeed entitled to be a party in the case.

The statement clarified: Allegations made by the respondent, Paes, about Rhea’s character are enough to show prima facie torture and harassment caused to her at the hands of the respondents -- Paes and his father. What complicates the matter is that Leander had not only filed for guardianship of Aiyana, but gave a sworn affidavit to the US embassy saying that Rhea was his wife they had also filed various documents calling themselves husband and wife.

According to the court: This admission by Paes simply shows that they both lived together for a considerable period and they were known as husband and wife to people at large when they lived together.

According to the judge, since Leander and Rhea were the childs parents, they did not need to be legally married in order for Rhea to be a party to the petition of custody. Also, the allegation that Leander had made stating that Rhea was still married to Sanjay Dutt when she had Aiyana was called a “story” and not reality.

The fight is getting murkier by the day. Sad but true.