On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court observed that because The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 does not recognise incompatibility or temperamental differences as grounds for divorce, couples have to spend years in a conflictual relationship as they don’t have a way to end their matrimonial relationship.
A Bench of Justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Neena Bansal Krishna noted that marriages under the old Hindu law were considered as sacraments and no concept of divorce was introduced back then.
With time, things change so the law. After the introduction of 1955 Act, grounds for divorce were recognised only on ‘fault theory’. And many debates have been held to introduce ‘irretrievable breakdown of marriage’ as a ground to dissolve a marriage, but the same has not met the consent of legislation, the Court observed.
The judgment stated, “With the passage of time, experience has shown that many a times, the marriages do not work because of incompatibility and temperamental differences, for which neither party can be blamed. However, since only Fault Theory prevails, these parties end up warring with each other for years to come only because they have no way of exiting this relationship. While many debates have been held to introduce “Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage” as a ground, it has not met the approval and consent of the legislation.”
Further, courts are bound by the limits defined under the Hindu Marriage Act, and “unless the fault of the other spouse is shown, the parties are left to suffer acrimonious relationship with no way to exit,” said the Bench.
The Court made these observations while dealing with an appeal filed by a woman challenging a family court order in which divorce was granted on the grounds of cruelty as alleged by her husband.
The Bench noted that the dispute between the couple emanated because of disrespect caused to the husband and his family members, and resulting in various quarrels led to multiple complaints.
The Court further added that the persistence of such quarrels over a long time, results in mental agony which has no solution
“Such prolonged differences made the life of respondent bereft of peace and conjugal relationship which is the bedrock of any matrimonial relationship. Thus, as observed in above judgments, it is evident that this matrimonial relationship rest only on irritations and daily fighting and it can be held that this conduct of appellant became a source of cruelty towards the respondent.”
The Court also noted that the spouses had been living separately for the last 15 years, this long separation period indicates that their marital bond is not retrievable.
“Living together in a marriage is not an irreversible act. But marriage is a tie between two parties and if this tie is not working under any circumstances, we see no purpose in postponing the inevitability of the situation.”
The Court, therefore, upheld the family court order which granted divorce.
Advocate Renu Gupta and Advocate Pratiksha Jalan represented the appellant, wife. And Advocates Meera Kaura Patel and Saket appeared for the respondent, husband.
News Source: https://www.barandbench.com/news/not-recognising-irretrievable-breakdown-of-marriage-ground-divorce-couples-suffer-acrimonious-relationships