Sangeetha Sornalingam, the wife of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, withdrew her divorce petition on Friday.
According to Tamil media, Sangeetha appeared virtually before the Chengalpattu Family Welfare Court via video conference and expressed her unwillingness to pursue the case. This led to the court closing the divorce case, Daily Thanthi said in a report. The Chief Minister skipped the court date, the reports said.
Meanwhile, other reports claimed that the case was not closed, but that the court postponed further proceedings without fixing the next date. As per these reports, CM Vijay's counsel informed the court that he was unable to appear in person as the Assembly session was under way.
After recording the submissions of both sides, the Family Court adjourned the case without specifying the next date of the hearing.
The divorce petition: What we know so far
In her divorce petition, Sangeetha Sornalingam, who has been married to Vijay for about 25 years since they tied the knot in August 1999, has alleged that he had engaged in an extramarital affair with an actress, as per an ANI report. However, other details of the alleged affair were not available.
When the case came up for hearing earlier this year, neither of them appeared in person. Given their celebrity status, both parties had reportedly requested permission to appear through video conference.
Later, during the hearing held on June 15, the judge raised several procedural questions and suggested that both should be sent to a mediation center. The case was then adjourned to August 7.
