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Usha Uday Khiwansara v. Uday Kumar Jethmal Khiwansara

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 618Decided 17 Jul 2018
Civil Appeal No. 6861 of 2018
Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre · Justice Uday Umesh Lalit

Background

The wife (appellant) and husband married in 1992, but the marriage broke down, leading the husband to file for divorce in 2004 on grounds of cruelty and desertion. The Family Court dismissed his divorce petition, but the Bombay High Court allowed the husband's appeal and granted divorce ex-parte, without the wife being heard, which the wife then challenged before the Supreme Court. The parties had been living separately for over a decade with no children from the marriage.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court noted the wife had been denied a fair hearing before the High Court, which would normally require remanding the case. However, both parties' counsel expressed willingness to settle, and the Court, relying on precedents like Naveen Kohli v. Neelu Kohli and Sanghamitra Ghosh v. Kajal Kumar Ghosh, found the marriage irretrievably broken down. Exercising its special power under Article 142 of the Constitution, the Court dissolved the marriage on the husband paying the wife Rs. 30 lakhs as permanent alimony plus Rs. 5 lakhs towards her medical expenses, and quashed all cross-allegations/findings against both parties, including a pending criminal writ petition.

Lesson Learnt

When a marriage has irretrievably broken down and both sides are willing to settle, the Supreme Court can use its special Article 142 powers to grant a clean, mutually agreed dissolution with a lump-sum alimony, even bypassing a technical procedural defect like an ex-parte hearing below, to spare the parties further prolonged litigation.

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

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