R. Srinivas Kumar Vs. R. Shametha - (Supreme Court) (04 Oct 2019)

Marriage can be dissolved, if it breaks down irretrievably

MANU/SC/1382/2019

Family

In present case, the Appellant-husband has preferred the present appeal feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied with the impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court, by which the High Court has confirmed the judgment and order passed by the learned Family Court refusing to pass a decree of divorce against the Respondent-wife,.

It is not in dispute that, since last 22 years both the Appellant-husband and the Respondent-wife are residing separately. It also appears that, all efforts to continue the marriage have failed and there is no possibility of re-union because of the strained relations between the parties. Thus, it appears that marriage between the Appellant-husband and the Respondent-wife has irretrievably broken down. In the case of Hitesh Bhatnagar v. Deepa Bhatnagar, it is noted by present Court that, Courts can dissolve a marriage as irretrievably broken down only when it is impossible to save the marriage and all efforts are made in that regard and when the Court is convinced beyond any doubt that, there is actually no chance of the marriage surviving and it is broken beyond repair.

Present Court, in a series of judgments, has exercised its inherent powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India, 1950 for dissolution of a marriage where the Court finds that, the marriage is totally unworkable, emotionally dead, beyond salvage and has broken down irretrievably, even if the facts of the case do not provide a ground in law on which the divorce could be granted. In the present case, admittedly, the Appellant-husband and the Respondent-wife have been living separately for more than 22 years and it will not be possible for the parties to live together. Therefore, while protecting the interest of the Respondent-wife to compensate her by way of lump sum permanent alimony, present is a fit case to exercise the powers under Article 142 of the Constitution and to dissolve the marriage between the parties. The application for divorce filed by the Appellant-husband for dissolution of marriage is hereby allowed.

Relevant : Hitesh Bhatnagar v. Deepa Bhatnagar MANU/SC/0428/2011

Tags : MARRIAGE DISSOLUTION DIVORCE GRANT