Indian marriages may be for seven lives, but the process of getting a contested divorce in India is no less than that! The system unfortunately is based on either parties proving the fault of the other and does not yet recognise irretrievable breakdown of marriageas a ground for divorce in India.
In it’s recent judgement, the Supreme Court dissolved a marriage by exercising its inherent powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, since a wife kept contesting divorce even after 16-years of separation from the man.
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Case:
The appellant and the respondent got married in accordance with Hindu rites in the year 2000
The parties co-lived for a period of only two months, after which the respondent-wife went to Canada, where she eventually obtained citizenship in 2002
The appellant alleged that the respondent went to Canada without his consent
The respondent returned to India only after she got her Canadian citizenship in 2002
Even after coming back, there were continuous quarrels between the parties
Owing to the same, Panchayat had intervened and further asked the parties to reside separately from their family
However, this solution did not prove to be effective as well
Subsequently, the respondent left for Canada again
This prompted the appellant husband to file for a divorce Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 on the ground of cruelty before the lower Court
The appellant contended that the loneliness and lack of co-habitation had caused him extreme physical and mental torture
The husband also stated that despite his reluctance to go to Canada, he had signed the immigration papers in order to save his marriage
However, the papers were never submitted
In fact, the appellant stated that the respondent herself had reached Canada on improper travel documents
The respondent, in her arguments, blamed the appellant for abandoning her and made various other allegations relating to dowry, physical assault and extra-marital affairs
She also claimed that she was forced to have an abortion when she was taken to a doctor once
The appellant denied this allegation and stated that the respondent was never pregnant
After hearing the arguments from both sides, the Additional District Judge granted a decree of divorce against which an appeal was filed before the High Court of Punjab
Aggrieved, the appellant-husband filed an appeal before the Supreme Court
The respondent-wife, in the meanwhile, expressed consent to continue to staying with the appellant
The Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and KM Josephpassed a judgment after taking note that the Supreme Court has earlier invoked its inherent powers under Article 142 to grant a divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage
The top Court took note that this was done”not only in cases where parties ultimately, before this Court, have agreed to do so but even otherwise”
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High Court Observation On Why This Marriage Should Not Be Dissolved
The High Court set aside the decree of divorce, attributing various allegations exchanged between the parties to the wear and tear of marriage and “inflamed passions”
The High Court judge had opined that these were not adequate to knock down the walls of marriage
Supreme Court Observations and Judgement
Citing the judgment of R. Srinivas Kumar v. R. Shametha, the Bench said that such powers are not exercised routinely. However, the same could be invoked in rare cases, in view of the absence of legislation in this behalf, where it is found that marriage is totally unworkable, emotionally dead, beyond salvage and has broken down irretrievably. It was pointed out that:
There is, thus, recognition of the futility of a completely failed marriage being continued only on paper … In numerous cases, where a marriage is found to be a dead letter, the Court has exercised its extraordinary power under Article 142 of the Constitution of India to bring an end to it.
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court found that the personal relationship between the parties seemed to have been greatly deteriorated and strained. As noted in the judgment,
The relationship appears to have deteriorated to such an extent that both parties see little good in each other; though the respondent insists that she wants to stay with the appellant. In our view, this insistence is only to somehow not let a decree of divorce be passed against the respondent.
This is only to frustrate the endeavour of the appellant to get a decree of divorce, completely losing sight of the fact that matrimonial relationships require adjustments from both sides, and a willingness to stay together. The mere say of such willingness would not suffice.
Adding further the bench quoted:
We have noticed above that all endeavours have been made to persuade the parties to live together, which have not succeeded. For that, it would not be appropriate to blame one or the other party, but the fact is that nothing remains in this marriage. The counsellor’s report also opines so. The marriage is a dead letter.
The Bench pointed out that despite multiple efforts made to mediate between the parties, the same proved unsuccessful. The court said:
The separation of sixteen (16) years since 2003 had made both the parties bitter and cynical about the relationship and there was no sign of any affection or bonding on either side. The parties apparently had no history of pleasant time and only feelings of resentment arising from the several court cases.
In view of these peculiar facts, the Bench remarked, on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage, if this is not a fit case to grant divorce, what would be a fit case!
Divorce India
It went on to eventually hold,
We are of the view that an end to this marriage would permit the parties to go their own way in life after having spent two decades battling each other, and there can always be hope, even at this age, for a better life, if not together, separately.
We, thus, exercising our jurisdiction under Article 142 of the Constitution of India, grant a decree of divorce and dissolve the marriage inter se the parties forthwith.
The Court concluded on a positive and progressive note saying:
We do believe that not only is the continuity of this marriage fruitless, but it is causing further emotional trauma and disturbance to both the parties. This is even reflected in the manner of responses of the parties in the Court.
The sooner this comes to an end, the better it would be, for both the parties. Our only hope is that with the end of these proceedings, which culminate in divorce between the parties, the two sides would see the senselessness of continuing other legal proceedings and make an endeavour to even bring those to an end.
The Court proceeded to award a decree of divorce and dissolved the marriage in the instant case, invoking its jurisdiction under Article 142. The Court also held that the appellant should continue to pay maintenance of Rs 7,500 per month, although the parties were granted liberty to move appropriate proceedings to enhance or reduce the amount.
Divorce India (Representation Image Only)
Our Take:
Our courts are flooded with such senseless and meaningless ego battles, due to which genuine victims suffer endlessly getting date after date
Let’s assume the husband in this case was a horrible man, as alleged by the wife; why was she contesting the divorce and emphasising on reuniting with him again?
The fact that our system has armed wives with gender biased laws, boosts their confidence of trapping their husbands for life, at least on paper
Such vindictive agendas don’t do much good to the women either, as their only motive in life is to track what is the man doing
These women ultimately don’t realise that they too miss out on the better things in life, because they feel they are teaching a “lesson” to the man
Men of course have a choice in such cases; either they choose to become equally vindictive or opt for moving on with their life and career since they cannot do much with the lopsided laws; laws that suggest a 16-year separation is “wear and tear” in marriage
The observation of the High Court, is exactly what is wrong with our system and when such judgements are left to the subjective bias of judges, the courts end up hearing petty arguments of who said and did what 16-years ago
Also the order of paying maintenance per month to someone who is able to survive and drag a case for nearly two-decades seems stretched
It is high time, the government of India brings in Irretrievable Breakdown in Marriage as a valid ground for divorce, to ensure such frivolous cases are thrown out of the larger ambit of our judiciary
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