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Synopsis

The Supreme Court recently observed that parties should not be made to suffer due to the lapse of a lawyer, as it allowed a plea by a man and his family for quashing criminal proceedings under Section 498 A and other offences.

A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih said when it had earlier ended the marriage for having irretrievably broken down, the pending criminal proceedings could not be included in its order.

It was submitted by the man's counsel that when the order was passed by the court on October 14, 2024, the petitioner inadvertently did not mention the FIR of 2023 for the offence punishable under Sections 498A, 323 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and as such, it could not be mentioned in the order.

The application was vehemently opposed by the counsel appearing for the wife.

He submitted that there were serious allegations made against the applicant and, therefore, the court should not quash and set aside the said proceeding.

The bench, however, said, "The very purpose of the order of October 14, 2024, was to give an end to all disputes between the parties, as it was found that the relationship between them is irretrievably broken."

The bench noted the court had also quashed certain proceedings which were mentioned in the application, however, on account of the lawyer’s mistake, the proceedings in the case of 2023 could not be mentioned in the said order.

"The parties should not be made to suffer due to the lapses of the lawyer," the bench said, allowing the miscellaneous application.

In its October 14, 2024, order, the court had directed for dissolving the marriage on an application filed by the husband for exercising jurisdiction under Article 142 of the Constitution.

Without delving into the allegations made by both the parties against each other, the court had said it was not in dispute that the relationship between the parties was irretrievably broken down, with no possibility of reconciliation.

"Taking into consideration the fact that both the parties are young and have the opportunity to start their lives anew, we find that this is a fit case for this court to invoke its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India and give an end to the relationship between the parties," the bench had then said.

The court had then directed its Registry to draw a decree for divorce accordingly.

Case Title: Sahil Kaushik Vs Shelpan Lohia @ Shelpan Kaushik