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Synopsis

The Supreme Court recently granted divorce to a couple who had lived apart for 17 years following a co-habitation of just over 14 months, citing irretrievable breakdown of marriage.

Observing that both parties are now in their early forties, the court emphasized that while they have spent a significant portion of their adult lives entangled in legal disputes, they still have a substantial future ahead of them.

The bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Prasanna B Varale allowed an application filed by the husband seeking direction under Article 142 of the Constitution for dissolution of marriage in terms of the Constitution bench judgment in the case of Shilpa Sailesh Vs Varun Sreenivasan (2023).

"No purpose shall be served by insisting for the parties to continue a marital relation which is already dead," the court said, allowing the husband's application. 

The court, however, directed the husband, working as a Lecturer with a Government College in Uttarakhand, to pay the wife Rs 40 lakh as a one-time settlement amount of permanent alimony.

The marriage between the appellant-husband and the respondent-wife was solemnised on October 6, 2006, as per Hindu vedic rites and rituals. The parties lived together for a little over a year and as per the appellant, the respondent left the matrimonial house on December 25, 2007. The respondent also admitted that they had been living separately since December 2007, albeit as per her, it was due to the dowry demand and torture meted out to her at the hands of the appellant and his family.    

The appellant-husband challenged the Uttarakhand High Court's decision dismissing his revision petition, in which he sought an adjustment of the Rs 5,000 he was paying under Section 125 CrPC against the Rs 15,000 awarded to his wife under the Domestic Violence Act.

Meanwhile, in 2019, the Family Court in Dehradun had rejected the appellant’s divorce petition while granting the respondent’s plea for restitution of conjugal rights. The appellant's appeal against this order remains pending before the high court.

Dealing with the question of dissolution of marriage as sought by the appellant, the bench said, "The relations between the parties have evidently grown sour beyond the point of return and such a long period of separation has turned these differences irreconcilable. It is unfortunate that the parties have already spent a large number of years of their adult lives fighting marital battles in the courtrooms. The parties are currently placed in their early forties and still have a considerable natural life ahead of them to look forward to. It is evident that in the instant case, the marital discord has reached to a point of no remedy and there is an irretrievable breakdown of marriage".

Dealing with the question of maintenance and alimony, the court took into account the total facts and circumstances of the case especially the financial status of the parties. 

It noted that there was no child to maintain out of the wedlock and that the parties had been staying separately for such a long period.

Therefore, the bench held, "We deem it just and equitable to grant an amount of Rs 40 lakhs as a one-time settlement amount of permanent alimony in favour of the respondent. The said amount shall cover all the pending and future monetary claims of the respondent against the appellant-husband".