If I don’t have the man, I don’t want his money.” The quote of the season came from Smriti Irani, who went into marriage with Zubin with ₹200 in her pocket and grew so self-sufficient that she signed away her inheritance rights to her siblings.

With no notes or prompting aids, Smriti put figures and percentages from the US and the UK before the audience. It was a curious topic under discussion: pre-nuptial agreements (which so far have no legal sanction in India) in the emerging legal landscape of the Uniform Civil Code. What’s the connection between “pre-nups” and the UCC? Plenty, says the white paper, which is on its way to Delhi from the Ladies’ Wing of the IMC (Indian Merchants’ Chamber).

Rajyalakshmi Rao, lady magistrate from the consumer court, gathered on stage Justice Jasti Chelameswar, former judge of the Supreme Court, and top cop Brijesh Singh, who is principal secretary, Government of Maharashtra, and so well acquainted with ground realities that he joked, “Policemen prefer robbery and murder cases to domestic disputes.” Former CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, currently mediating a high-profile estate dispute, would probably agree with that.

Smriti had facts on her fingertips, pointing out that pre-nups abroad were more popular with those who had generational wealth than among the middle class.

It made one wonder how independent women like Alia Bhatt (married into the Kapoor khandaan), Rani Mukerji (wedded to the YRF empire) or Sonam Kapoor (Anand Ahuja’s net worth exceeds ₹4,000 crore), would have reacted to a pre-nup. There used to be a rumour that one of the reasons the Abhishek Bachchan-Karisma Kapoor engagement broke off was because his family wanted a pre-nuptial.

It was, of course, baseless as these agreements don’t figure in the Indian legal system. But just think. If there had been such a legally enforceable agreement between Karisma and Sunjay Kapur, there wouldn’t have been high-decibel inheritance wars being fought in the courts 10 years after their divorce settlement.

Sunjay’s first death anniversary on June 12 was marked more by acrimony between Karisma, third wife Priya and Sunjay’s mother Rani than by visible signs of mourning. SC-appointed mediator Chandrachud should be relieved that first wife Nandita Mahtani (divorced in 2000) minds her dress designer business and has stayed far away as all other parties battle over Kapur’s ₹30,000 crore estate.

Those who push for pre-nuptial agreements in India, which can come into effect only when there is a UCC, emphasise that it does not foreshadow a doomed marriage. “It is like travel insurance,” said Rao. “You don’t take one anticipating disaster. It’s about preparedness…”

But there is one Indian couple that has reportedly sailed through a divorce because of an iron-clad pre-nup. It was possible even when they wed in 2005 because the bride was based in the UK. One would think that when Fardeen Khan, main heir to father Feroz Khan’s widespread properties — and whispered to be one of the richest Hindi film actors with assets worth over ₹400 crore — decided to get married, it would have been he or his father who’d have wanted a pre-nup to safeguard their financial interests. But it is believed it was bride Natasha Madhvani’s billionaire dad Mayur who advised an agreement.

The astuteness of Ugandan businessman Mayur Madhvani — with footprints all over, including North America and Europe, and whose worth is over $1 billion — was perhaps instrumental in ensuring that when Fardeen and Natasha ended their marriage, there were no financial bumps in their separation.

While UCC itself looms large contentiously, an offshoot like a pre-nuptial agreement will be just as thorny. Await a sparkling celebrity debate on it in the coming days.

Bharathi S. Pradhan is a senior journalist and an author