Divorce By Mutual Consent| Application U/S 14(1) HMA Be Allowed Treating Case As One Of Exceptional Hardship Or Depravity: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court emphasized that the Application filed under Section 14(1) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (HMA) read with Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC) should be allowed treating the case as one of exceptional hardship or depravity.

The Lucknow Bench emphasized thus in a First Appeal seeking setting aside of the Order passed by the Family Court, which rejected the Application under Section 14 of HMA read with Section 151 of CPC.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Brij Raj Singh observed, “… we are of the opinion that 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.”

Advocate Gaurav Mehrotra appeared for the Appellant while Advocate Prateek Yadav appeared for the Respondent.

Factual Background

The marriage of the Appellant-husband with Respondent-wife was solemnised in August 2024 as per Hindu rites and rituals and a written notarial marriage deed was executed between the parties. Both again solemnised their marriage second time in September 2024. Since hostility developed between them, the Appellant preferred an Application through IGRS portal to the Superintendent of Police stating that he is under threat for false Complaints to be lodged by his wife. In retaliation, the wife lodged an FIR under Sections 115(2), 352, and 351(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS). She also filed an Application before the Superintendent of Police stating that a compromise has been entered into between the parties and she wanted to withdraw the FIR lodged. Since there was no progress in the marital relations between the parties and an altercation took place between them, the wife again lodged an FIR under Sections 376 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) and Sections 3 and 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act).

Thereafter, the husband filed a Criminal Miscellaneous Writ Petition seeking to quash the FIR and the High Court passed an Interim Order staying his arrest and referred the matter to the Mediation and Conciliation Center. He was also directed to pay Rs. 50,000/- to the wife. Subsequently, the Civil Judge issued a Summoning Order against the Appellant’s brother and sister-in-law. Since the relations between the husband and wife were not cordial and hostility was going on, they filed a Petition under Section 13-B HMA along with an Application under Section 14. The Family Court rejected the same saying that since the cause of action for filing a Suit for divorce by mutual consent under Section 13-B arises only after the lapse of one year from the date of separate living, the Application cannot be allowed by relaxing the said period. Hence, the case was before the High Court.

Reasoning

The High Court in view of the facts and circumstances of the case, noted, “The proviso to Section 14 (1) of the Act, 1955 is an exception to the necessity for expiration of a period of one year since the date of marriage to enable a party to file a petition for divorce. Once an application under Section 14 (1) of the Act, 1955 is filed before the court, certainly the court has to see whether there is exceptional hardship to the petitioner or exceptional depravity on the part of the respondent.”

The Court said that in this case, it is borne out of the record that criminal cases have been filed by the wife and there is no chance that marriage will subsist; therefore, the proviso to Section 14(1) of HMA is to be invoked, so that the parties may get divorce and lead their peaceful life.

“Both the parties have mutually filed the divorce petition along with an application under Section 14(1) of the Act, 1955, therefore, the said application is ought to be allowed”, it added.

Accordingly, the High Court allowed the Appeal and set aside the impugned Order.

Cause Title- ABC v. XYZ (Neutral Citation: 2025:AHC-LKO:32543-DB)

Appearance:

Appellant: Advocates Gaurav Mehrotra, Maria Fatima, Nadeem Murtaza, and Shhreiya Agarawal.

Respondent: Advocate Prateek Yadav

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