Celebrated IAS couple Tina Dabi, Athar Khan granted divorce by Jaipur court

Indian Administrative Service (IAS) toppers Tina Dabi and Athar Khan have been granted divorce by a Jaipur family court. The couple had filed for divorce by mutual consent in November last year.

Dabi had secured the first rank in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examinations in 2015. Khan, who is from Anantnag in Kashmir, had ranked second.  According to reports, they met and fell in love while undergoing training at the Department of Personnel and Training office in Delhi.

Dabi and Khan got married in 2018 in a high-profile wedding. The reception was attended by high-ranking politicians such as Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and then Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

Both officials belong to the Rajasthan cadre and were initially posted in Jaipur. Khan is presently posted in Srinagar on deputation with the Jammu and Kashmir government, while Dabi joined the government of Rajasthan as the joint secretary (finance) in November 2020. She is also an honorary advisor to the steering committee of the BRICS Chamber of Commerce & Industry (CCI) Young Leaders.

The duo's wedding had generated headlines with several politicians and dignitaries congratulating and praising them for tying the knot. But the couple also faced severe backlash. The Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha had declared the interfaith marriage as a case of ‘love jihad’. Amid the uproar, Dabi had stated that her marriage was above religious divides, adding that she was unaffected by the controversy.

Dabi, a graduate of political science from Delhi’s Lady Shri Ram College, was the first Dalit to top the civil services exam. She had secured the position on her first attempt.