Father-in-law offers to testify against Hurley

MODEL Elizabeth Hurley has not got off to a good start with her new father-in-law — he has offered to testify against her on charges of mocking Hinduism, a lawyer in the case said yesterday.

A few days after it was reported that he had disowned the couple because of arguments during the wedding, Vinod Nayar has volunteered to give a written statement against both Hurley and his son, businessman Arun Nayar, said lawyer Hastimal Saraswat.

Nayar, worth an estimated £20 million, said Hurley was guilty of ‘‘blatant and cynical commercialism’’ and favoured celebrity guests above the groom’s Indian family who, he claims, were sidelined.

Hurley, herself worth an estimated £13m, sold wedding pictures to Hello magazine for £2m.

The couple had two lavish wedding ceremonies — one at Britain’s historic Sudeley Castle, the other on a Mumbai beach.

The couple could be charged with insulting Hinduism by breaking taboos with their lavish wedding in the Indian city of Jodhpur last month, in the unlikely event that a local court decides to uphold a petition by city resident Vishnu Khandelwal.

Khandelwal’s complaints include that Hurley should have converted to Hinduism if she wanted a Hindu-style wedding.

He also complained that the couple broke Hindu taboos during the ceremony by drinking alcohol, and that Hurley was also wearing leather shoes.

‘‘Vinod Nayar told me on the phone that the couple had made mockery of Hindu traditions,’’ said Saraswat, who is representing the petitioner.

But legal experts said the case was extremely unlikely to make any headway.

‘‘This will fall flat in the court,’’ said Ashok Arora, former secretary of India’s Supreme Court. ‘‘You cannot force somebody to follow a ritual.’’

Nayar has told British tabloid newspapers that he has disowned the couple, claiming they threatened to have him thrown out of the wedding ceremony.

‘‘My wife Joanne and I feel we were publicly humiliated and treated like social outcasts,’’ Nayar said.

Hurley’s publicist was not available for comment.

The court has heard three witnesses from the petitioner’s side, but has yet to decide whether to bring charges against the couple under India’s anti-religious hatred laws.

Hurley, 41, is best known as a model, for acting in films such as Bedazzled and for once being the partner of actor Hugh Grant.