Nikesh Kumar vs Suman Devi
Background
Nikesh Kumar and Suman Devi married in December 2004, but within a year the wife began living separately and the couple never resumed cohabitation. The husband obtained a divorce decree from the Family Court in 2012 on grounds of cruelty and desertion, remarried in 2012, and has a child from the second marriage. The wife successfully appealed the divorce decree before the Jharkhand High Court, which set it aside, prompting the husband's appeal to the Supreme Court.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court found that the couple had lived apart for more than 17 years with no possibility of reconciliation, and applying the factors laid down in its earlier ruling in Shilpa Sailesh v. Varun Sreenivasan (period of separation, nature of allegations, attempts at settlement, etc.), held the marriage had irretrievably broken down. Using its special power under Article 142(1) of the Constitution (which lets the Court do "complete justice" even where ordinary divorce law wouldn't allow it), the Court itself dissolved the marriage rather than sending the matter back to lower courts. It also approved a negotiated settlement: an additional Rs. 40 lakh (in two installments) to the wife in full and final settlement of maintenance, and transfer of a disputed plot of land to the husband or his current wife via gift deed.
Lesson Learnt
Where a marriage has been dead in substance for many years with no realistic chance of reconciliation, the Supreme Court can grant a divorce directly under its Article 142 powers, even overturning a High Court decision reviving the marriage, rather than forcing parties through further rounds of litigation, provided financial settlement for the other spouse is fairly addressed.