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Pooja Bhuneshwar Prasad Sharma vs Ashish Vinaybhai Mishra

Transfer Petition (Civil) · 2022 INSC 540Decided 9 May 2022
Transfer Petition (Civil) No. 618 of 2021
B.V. Nagarathna

Background

A husband and wife, married in 2017, were each pursuing separate matrimonial cases against the other in family courts located in different states (one in Gujarat, one in Chhattisgarh): the wife seeking transfer of the husband's petition to her location, and the husband seeking transfer of the wife's case to his. During mediation at the Supreme Court's own Mediation Centre, the couple reached a comprehensive settlement, including the husband paying the wife Rs. 28 lakh (already paid in two instalments) and giving her a necklace set, in exchange for a mutually agreed divorce.

Decision Breakdown

With both parties personally present in Court and confirming the settlement, the Court accepted the settlement agreement on record and exercised its special constitutional power under Article 142 to grant an immediate divorce by mutual consent under Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act. Relying on its own earlier ruling in Amardeep Singh vs Harveen Kaur, the Court waived the usual mandatory six-month "cooling off" waiting period under Section 13-B(2), since the parties had already been living apart with no chance of reconciliation. The marriage was dissolved, and since the divorce resolved the underlying disputes, both transfer petitions were rendered moot and disposed of.

Lesson Learnt

When both spouses genuinely and mutually agree to divorce, especially after a court-facilitated mediation settlement, the Supreme Court can use its special constitutional powers to waive the standard six-month waiting period for mutual-consent divorce, allowing couples to move on without unnecessary delay once reconciliation is clearly not possible.

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

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