‘Let Them Lead Peaceful Lives’: Allahabad High Court Waives One-Year Wait for Mutual Divorce
The Allahabad High Court, Lucknow Bench, recently permitted a couple to proceed with mutual divorce even before completing one year of marriage, invoking the exception clause under Section 14 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
The bench comprising Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Brij Raj Singh delivered the verdict on May 29, 2025, allowing the waiver of the one-year statutory bar on filing for divorce. Court found that the case involved "exceptional hardship" and "exceptional depravity," meriting immediate legal separation.
The couple got married on August 5, 2024. Despite two ceremonial solemnizations and a notarial deed executed shortly after the marriage, the relationship deteriorated rapidly. Tensions between the husband and wife escalated into legal confrontations, including two separate FIRs filed by the wife—one of which alleged rape and invoked provisions of the POCSO Act.
While the couple had initially attempted to resolve issues through a compromise, efforts failed, leading both parties to mutually consent to end the marriage. On March 26, 2025, they jointly approached the Family Court at Ambedkar Nagar, seeking divorce under Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act and moved an application under Section 14 for waiver of the one-year cooling-off period.
However, the family court rejected their request, citing the mandatory requirement of one year of separation post-marriage before a divorce petition can be entertained.
The high court, reversing this order, observed that the proviso to Section 14 empowers courts to relax the waiting period in cases of exceptional hardship or depravity. Referring to precedents from Punjab & Haryana, Kerala, and Delhi High Courts, the bench emphasized that compelling circumstances—like the criminal litigation and the complete breakdown of marital relations—were enough to invoke this exception.
“When both the parties are voluntarily inclined to withdraw relationship and do not want to continue with the relationship at all and they also want to enjoy their life by parting their ways, therefore, the application filed under Section 14(1) of the Act, 1955 read with Section 151 of Code of Civil Procedure on 26.03.2025 should be allowed treating the case is one of exceptional hardship to the appellant or of exceptional depravity on the part of the respondent as continuance of the litigation will cause mental and physical harassment to them unnecessarily,” the court noted.
Accordingly, court allowed the appeal filed by the husband and set aside the family court’s order. It directed that the mutual divorce petition be treated as filed on March 26, 2025, thereby enabling the couple to make a motion under Section 13-B(2) after the six-month statutory period from that date.
Case Title: Angad Soni vs Arpita Yadav
Download judgment here