The Supreme Court annulled a marriage despite the wife’s opposition to the divorce, not because she wanted to save the relationship, but because she first wanted to prove before the court that her husband had committed adultery.
Observing that a marriage existing “on paper only” serves no meaningful purpose, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta on Wednesday decided to dissolve the marriage, exercising its extraordinary power under Article 142 of the Constitution. The court said that the relationship between the spouses had broken down beyond repair, and that continuing the legal bond any further would only prolong bitterness and litigation.
“The bonds of marriage, in every sense of the word, have been severed long ago. In such circumstances, forcing the parties to remain bound by a marriage that exists only on paper would serve no legitimate purpose,” the court noted while using its extraordinary powers to grant the divorce.
The case arose out of a marital dispute between an army officer and his wife, a dentist by profession. They married in April 2017 but separated soon afterwards amid allegations and counter-allegations.
The husband approached the High Court seeking annulment of the marriage on the grounds of irreparable breakdown, stating that the parties had been living apart for more than eight years and were subject to multiple civil and criminal proceedings without the possibility of reconciliation.
But the wife opposed the Supreme Court granting the divorce directly. She told the court that she intended to file a contested divorce application under Section 13(1)(i) of the Hindu Marriage Act on the grounds of adultery, and said the husband should not be allowed to “exploit his mistakes”.
In essence, the dispute before the court was not about whether the marriage should continue, but rather about how to legally end the marriage.
The court acknowledged the wife’s position, but said that the surrounding circumstances did not leave room for preserving the marital bond.
“We are cognizant of the fact that the respondent-wife is not consenting to the grant of divorce by this court and intends to pursue a contested petition on the ground of adultery. However, what is clear from the record and from our interaction with the parties is that the marriage between the parties has irretrievably broken down and there is no possibility of reconciliation whatsoever,” the ruling noted.
The court took note of the prolonged separation, continued acrimony, and multiple pending issues between the parties, including maintenance proceedings, domestic violence complaints, and contempt petitions.
The ruling recorded that the spouses had earlier attempted to settle and even initiated divorce proceedings by mutual consent after agreeing on permanent alimony $32 lakh. The husband paid $20 lakh under the settlement, but the second divorce petition was never filed because the settlement collapsed midway.
And then the wife returned $20 lakh after the Supreme Court registered its willingness to do so earlier this year.
While dissolving the marriage, the court also significantly enhanced the permanent maintenance payable to the wife from the previously agreed upon amount $32 lakh for $50 thousand, and described it as a fair and adequate settlement considering the financial capabilities of the two parties, their lifestyle, and the years of separation.
The court also ordered closure of all pending proceedings between the parties before the courts in Noida, including maintenance and domestic violence cases.
