The Supreme Court invoked its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution and dissolved the marriage of a quinquagenarian couple on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage. The Apex Court discarded the contention that divorce could not be granted just because none of the available grounds on which a Hindu marriage could be dissolved were present.

The appeal before the Apex Court challenged the judgment of the Patna High Court upholding the dismissal of the petition filed under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, by the appellant-wife.

The Division Bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Manmohan held, “Even though the respondent-husband has vehemently opposed the prayer for dissolution of marriage contending that none of the available grounds on which a Hindu marriage could be dissolved is present, the same is not a bar for us to exercise our powers under Article 142 of the Constitution; more particularly when we are satisfied that it is a case of irretrievable breakdown of marriage. In this regard, one may refer profitably to the decision of the Constitution Bench of this Court in Shilpa Sailesh v. Varun Sreenivasan.”

AOR Pulkit Tare represented the Appellant while Senior Advocate Ashok Kumar Choudhary represented the Respondent.

Factual Background

The marriage between the appellant-wife and the respondent-husband was solemnized in 1999. They were blessed with a daughter. However, it was an undisputed fact that the parties had been living separately for quite some time. According to the appellant-wife, they have been living separately since 2008, while the respondent-husband claimed that the separation has been since 2012.

Reasoning

The Bench took note of the fact that the parties have been living separately for at least a little over 12 years. On a perusal of the facts of the case and the interaction between the parties, the Bench ascertained that the child of the parties is enrolled in the second year of the MBBS course in a medical college in Puducherry. She is approaching marriageable age. “We found her sufficiently mature to make her own decisions”, the Bench noted.

The Bench held, “Suffice to record, we believe that it is a fit case for us to invoke powers conferred on us by Article 142 of the Constitution of India and to dissolve the marriage between the parties on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage. We are persuaded to do so, having considered the prolonged period of separation and the multiple failed attempts at reconciliation, which clearly indicate that there is no possibility of reunion, as well as their age (both are quinquagenarian).”

Thus, allowing the Petition, the Bench ordered, “Accordingly, we dissolve the marriage between the parties by a decree of divorce. Decree be drawn up accordingly.”

Cause Title: A v. B (Neutral Citation: 2025 INSC 631)

Appearance:

Appellant: AOR Pulkit Tare

Respondent: Senior Advocate Ashok Kumar Choudhary, Advocate Akshansh Ankit, AOR Shraman Sinha

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Justice Dipankar DattaJustice Manmohan

Tulip Kanth

Assistant Editor

Tulip Kanth is an Assistant Editor at Verdictum having over 5 years of experience in the field of legal journalism and editing. She extensively covers judgments of the Supreme Court, High Courts as well as Tribunals. She has previously worked with a legal publishing website where she oversaw the work of other editors and has also created updates on notifications of different Government Ministries. She holds an English Honours Degree from SGTB Khalsa College, Delhi University and has completed her LLB course with specialisation in Corporate Law from Amity University.