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Bijendra v. Rekha

Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 939Decided 2 Sept 2026
C.A. No.-010249-010249 - 2014
Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra · Justice Shree Chandrashekhar

Background

Bijendra and Rekha married in 2003, but the marriage was troubled almost from the start, and Rekha went back to her parents' home in November 2005. When Bijendra went to bring her back in December 2005, she refused to return, and the couple lived apart from that point onward with no children born of the marriage. Bijendra filed for divorce on the grounds of cruelty and desertion; the trial court found the allegations of cruelty unproven but, despite finding the couple had genuinely been separated since December 2005, still refused to grant a divorce on the desertion ground. The High Court also dismissed his appeal, reasoning that Rekha's assertion that she never refused her marital obligations meant the "intention to desert" (animus deserendi) had not been proven.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the High Court erred in disregarding the trial court's own factual finding, unchallenged by Rekha, that she had refused to return to the matrimonial home without reasonable cause when Bijendra came to fetch her. Applying settled principles that desertion requires both the factual separation and an intention to permanently end cohabitation, the Court found that a spouse's mere verbal assertion of willingness to reconcile cannot outweigh conduct showing the opposite, especially over such a long, unbroken separation with no children and a failed court-mediation attempt. The Court restored the trial court's finding of desertion, left the cruelty finding undisturbed (since that finding favored Rekha and was not challenged effectively), and dissolved the marriage under Section 13(1)(ib) of the Hindu Marriage Act, directing Bijendra to pay Rs. 7,00,000 as permanent alimony.

Lesson Learnt

In divorce cases based on desertion, courts must look at actual conduct and unchallenged factual findings, not just a spouse's professed willingness to reconcile, and a long, genuine separation with no real prospect of reunion is a strong indicator that a marriage should be legally dissolved rather than kept alive in name only.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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