New Delhi, 16 December. The Supreme Court has given a historic verdict on Monday in a dispute of 24 years of marriage and has approved divorce. For this decision, the Supreme Court used its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution and said that the court should not preserve such marriages which survive only on paper.
The Supreme Court held that the couple’s approach to marital life was fundamentally different and their persistent refusal to understand each other was tantamount to mutual cruelty which could not be cured. In this dispute, both the wife and husband were living separately for the last 24 years.
,long separation cruelty,
According to a report by the website LiveLaw, the Supreme Court observed that ‘living apart for a long time without any hope of coming together is tantamount to cruelty for both the parties. The bench of Justice Manmohan and Justice Joymala Bagji accepted the husband’s petition and reinstated the divorce decision passed by the trial court. This decision was overturned by the Gauhati High Court, against which the petitioner approached the Supreme Court.
,There is no benefit in saving marriage on paper.,
The Supreme Court said, ‘This court is also of the view that by keeping the matrimonial case pending for a long time, the marriage remains only on paper. It is in the interest of the parties and society that if the litigation is pending for too long, the relationship between the parties should be terminated. Consequently, this Court is of the opinion that no benefit will be served by keeping the matrimonial case pending in the Court without providing relief to the parties.
Serious comment regarding husband-wife relationship
The Supreme Court said, ‘In this case, the views of the husband and wife regarding their marital life are very strong and for a long time both are refusing to adjust. Because of this their behavior is cruel towards each other. This court believes that in a matrimonial matter involving two persons, it is not the job of the society or the court to decide who is right and who is wrong in the conduct of the husband and wife. It is their strong views and refusal to understand each other that leads to cruelty towards each other.
Dissolution of marriage using Article 142
The bench led by Justice Manmohan said in its judgment that the High Court had erred in determining the fault of the couple. The bench said that when the couple had been living separately for almost 24 years and did not have any children, it was meaningless to find fault. Therefore, the Supreme Court, using its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, ordered the dissolution of the marriage.
The whole matter is related to divorce
In this case, the petitioner husband and his wife were married in the year 2000. In November 2001, that is, after almost a year of marriage, both of them started living separately. Both of them do not have any children from this marriage. The husband applied for divorce in the court in 2003, but it was rejected as premature. In 2007, the husband filed another application in the trial court and this time the verdict was given in favor of the husband on the grounds that the wife had abandoned him. But, in 2011, the Gauhati High Court overturned the decision saying that the wife had left the husband’s house for legitimate reasons and the husband wanted to take advantage of his mistakes. The husband had filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against this decision.
Comments are closed.