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Manju Kumari Singh @ Smt. Manju Singh v. Avinash Kumar Singh

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 639Decided 25 Jul 2018
Civil Appeal No. 6988 of 2018
Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre · Justice Uday Umesh Lalit

Background

The wife appealed against a Jharkhand High Court order that upheld a Family Court decree dissolving her marriage on grounds of cruelty and desertion. The couple, married in 1997, had a daughter in 1998 who lived with the appellant-wife; the marriage had broken down soon after, leading to a divorce petition by the husband in 2001. An earlier round had already seen the Supreme Court remand the matter once for fresh High Court hearing, after which the High Court again dismissed the wife's appeal and granted divorce on the ground of desertion.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court noted the parties had lived separately for over a decade with failed mediation attempts, making reconciliation impossible. Relying on precedents such as Naveen Kohli v. Neelu Kohli and Sanghamitra Ghosh v. Kajal Kumar Ghosh, the Court held that where a marriage is irretrievably broken down, it is in the interest of all concerned, including any children, to give a final quietus to the litigation. With the broad consent of both parties, the Court exercised its special power under Article 142 of the Constitution to directly dissolve the marriage, subject to the husband paying a total of Rs. 10,00,000 in two installments as permanent alimony/maintenance for the appellant and daughter, and directed that all allegations in connected pending matrimonial proceedings be expunged and those proceedings disposed of.

Lesson Learnt

The Supreme Court can use its special Article 142 power to cut through prolonged matrimonial litigation and directly grant divorce with a negotiated financial settlement once a marriage is factually and irretrievably broken down, sparing parties years of further proceedings.

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

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