Sivasankaran v. Santhimeenal
Background
The husband and wife married in 2002, but the marriage collapsed almost immediately: the wife left the marriage hall the same night and the marriage was never consummated. The husband sought divorce on the ground of cruelty; the wife instead sought restitution of conjugal rights. A divorce was eventually granted in 2008 on the ground of irretrievable breakdown, after which the husband remarried within days, but years of appeals, a review petition, and renewed litigation (including RTI complaints and a criminal complaint against the husband) followed, stretching the case out for nearly two decades.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court held that although "irretrievable breakdown of marriage" is not a statutory ground for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act, the Court can use its special power under Article 142 of the Constitution to dissolve a marriage that is completely and irreparably dead, even without both spouses' consent, as it had done in several earlier cases. It found the marriage here had never functioned even for a single day and that the wife's subsequent conduct, repeated litigation, RTI complaints about the husband's remarriage, and a criminal complaint, itself amounted to mental cruelty justifying divorce under Section 13(1)(i-a) of the Act. The Court granted a decree of divorce dissolving the marriage, directing payment of permanent alimony to protect the wife's financial interests, with each side bearing its own costs.
Lesson Learnt
Even where a particular ground for divorce is not written into the statute, the Supreme Court can use its constitutional power to end a marriage that is factually and permanently dead, to prevent indefinite and mutually destructive litigation between estranged spouses.