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The jurisdiction of the Court under proviso to Section 14 of the Hindu Marriage Act mandatorily restricts invocation to existence of exceptional hardship or exceptional depravity, said the court
The Allahabad High Court recently observed that marriage between two Hindus is sacrosanct and its dissolution would be permissible only for the reasons permissible in law. "On routine grounds of mutual incompatibility between the parties, it would not be open for the parties to seek exemption from one-year limitation in filing such petition," court said.
Court dismissed an appeal filed by a man, who sought dissolution of his marriage within a year of the wedding. The appeal challenged the Principal Judge of the Family Court, Saharanpur's order, which had rejected the man and his wife's joint petition for divorce on grounds that the statutory minimum period of one year had not elapsed. The couple had sought to invoke the proviso to Section 14 of the Hindu Marriage Act which allows courts to entertain divorce petitions before the one-year mark in cases of "exceptional hardship" or "exceptional depravity."
A division bench comprising Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Donadi Ramesh, however, noted that the grounds cited in the petition—mutual incompatibility and the inability to live together—did not meet the high threshold of "exceptional hardship" or "exceptional depravity" required under the proviso. The bench stated that the proviso is not a mere procedural formality but serves a critical legislative purpose in safeguarding the sanctity of marriage.
Court emphasized, "The provision contained under Section 14 of the Act has a laudable object to subserve, inasmuch as the legislature has put an embargo in entertaining an application for dissolution of marriage, within one year for specific performance".
It clarified that unless exceptional circumstances demonstrating undue hardship or depravity are established, the statutory waiting period remains inviolable.
The appeal was ultimately dismissed as lacking merit. However, the court noted that the couple remain free to file a fresh application for divorce once the mandatory one-year period expires.
Case Title: Sri Nishant Bhardwaj Vs. Smt. Rishika Gautam
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