Actress Celina Jaitly has stepped into a legal battle after approaching a Mumbai court to file for divorce from her Austrian husband, Peter Haag. The couple’s 15-year marriage has now turned into a cross-country dispute, with both sides moving court in two different nations.
Earlier this week, Celina filed a case at a court in Andheri, seeking divorce on the grounds of domestic violence, abuse and mental cruelty. She also posted a long, emotional note on Instagram, discussing how she has been fighting the crisis alone without a support system.
However, even before Celina moved the court in India, Peter Haag had already filed for divorce in Austria. This was confirmed by Celina’s legal team, which also shared a 199-page petition submitted before the Mumbai court.
Peter Haag filed for divorce first, blames Celina for marriage collapse
Niharika Karanjwala Misra, a lawyer from Celina’s legal team, spoke to The Times of India and revealed that Peter had initiated divorce proceedings in Austria earlier this year. According to her, Peter has blamed Celina for the breakdown of their marriage in his Austrian filing.
A notice has now been issued to Peter by the Mumbai court and is returnable by December 12. Celina, in her petition, has sought an alimony of Rs 10 lakh per month and compensation of Rs 50 crore. Her lawyer also stated that Peter is facing another civil case for allegedly forcing Celina to transfer her Mumbai property, worth Rs 3.5 crore, into his name through a gift deed.
The petition further claims that the couple had jointly bought certain properties in Vienna, which Peter later sold without Celina’s knowledge. This, according to her lawyer, was one of the key reasons she decided to take legal action.
Court access to children granted after a long struggle
In an interaction with News18, Celina’s lawyer said the actress is currently fighting a simultaneous case in an Austrian court. Her primary concern remains her children, and she has sought their custody and regular access in her domestic violence case filed in Mumbai.
Recently, the Austrian court granted Celina telephonic access to her children for one hour a day. Before this order, Peter had allegedly cut off contact between the children and Celina for some time, according to her lawyer.
Financial control and property disputes documented in petition
The petition submitted in court outlines several allegations about the financial control Peter had over Celina during their marriage.
According to the petition, after moving from Dubai to Singapore in 2012, Celina learned from her sister-in-law that Peter had been in a five-year live-in relationship during their courtship period. During that time, he had portrayed himself as single. Celina’s lawyer clarified that there was no known infidelity during the marriage itself, but this information came to her shortly after the birth of their first set of twins.
Niharika added that Peter allegedly controlled all of Celina’s financial accounts by taking her credit and debit cards. He reportedly used her savings to maintain their lifestyle, while refusing to disclose details about his own income. She alleged that when Celina tried asking about his job or finances, he would react with anger.
The lawyer also stated that Celina found last year that Peter had sold one of their jointly purchased Vienna properties without informing her. This revelation reportedly led to major arguments between the couple.
The couple lived in multiple countries based on Peter’s job requirements, first Dubai, then Singapore, and later back to Dubai when he lost his job. After Celina signed the gift deed transferring her Mumbai home to him, Peter allegedly gave up his job and moved to a small Alpine village in Austria.
There, he reportedly kept Celina isolated and in complete dependency. According to the petition, Peter kept all of Celina’s personal documents, including her passport. One day, while looking for a place to call her lawyer, Celina found the hidden documents. With the help of a neighbour, she managed to leave Austria and return to India, where she immediately decided to approach the courts.
Peter’s Austria case argues that Celina has no claim to assets
Celina’s lawyer has also revealed that Peter is attempting to prove in the Austrian court that Celina has no legal claim over their properties. According to her, Peter filed the divorce there first because he wanted to establish jurisdiction in Austria.
He has also reportedly argued that the marriage failed because of Celina, a claim her team has denied. Celina had suggested a mutual consent divorce for the sake of their children, but Peter refused, according to her legal team.
On Tuesday, Celina shared an emotional note on Instagram, describing the pain she has endured throughout the process. In her post, she wrote that she never imagined she would have to fight alone without her parents, her brother or her children by her side.
She described the last few years as the “most turbulent storm” of her life and said life had stripped her of every support system she once had. Despite that, she wrote that the storm had not drowned her, but instead pushed her to discover her inner strength.
She said she continues to fight for her children, her dignity and her brother, and that she has filed a domestic violence complaint documenting all alleged acts of cruelty and abandonment.
Celina’s ongoing fight for her brother
Beyond the divorce case, Celina has also been occupied with another personal battle. She lost both her parents in 2017 and has only one surviving immediate family member, her brother, Major (Retd.) Vikrant Kumar Jaitly.
Her brother was detained in the UAE in 2024 in a national security-related matter. After Celina filed a plea in the Delhi High Court, the Central Government was directed to provide legal help and ensure communication between the siblings.
Celina shared a long message on Instagram describing her brother’s situation, saying he had been a victim of enforced disappearance for nine months before being detained. She wrote that she continues to pray for answers and for the government’s intervention in securing his safety.
As both her legal battles continue, Celina remains determined to fight on multiple fronts, her marriage, her children’s access, her property rights and her brother’s case. For now, she is preparing for the next court dates in India and Austria, as the cross-country divorce dispute unfolds on a larger scale.
