In a recent judgment, the Allahabad High Court reinforced the stipulation under Section 14 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, which mandates that a marriage cannot be dissolved within one year of its solemnization, except under circumstances of exceptional hardship or depravity. The case in question involved an appeal against the Principal Judge, Family Court, Saharanpur's decision to reject a mutual divorce petition filed under Section 13-B of the Act. The rejection was based on the ground that the statutory one-year period had not elapsed since the marriage.
The appellants contended that their mutual incompatibility warranted the dissolution of their marriage before the completion of one year. However, the division bench comprising Justice Ashwini Kumar Mishra and Justice Donadi Ramesh observed that the legislative intent behind Section 14 is to provide a mandatory cooling-off period, thereby discouraging hasty decisions to dissolve marriages. This period allows couples to attempt reconciliation and ensures that the decision to divorce is well-considered.
The court emphasized that the proviso to Section 14 permits the filing of a divorce petition within the one-year period only if the petitioner can demonstrate exceptional hardship or depravity. In this case, the appellants cited mutual incompatibility as the sole reason for seeking an early dissolution. The court found that this reason did not meet the threshold of exceptional hardship or depravity required to invoke the proviso.
The judgment underscored the sacrosanct nature of Hindu marriage, stating that its dissolution should not be permitted on routine grounds such as mutual incompatibility, especially within the first year. The court noted that the one-year limitation serves a laudable objective by providing couples with a timeframe to resolve differences and prevent impulsive decisions to end the marriage.
Consequently, the court dismissed the appeal, affirming the Family Court's decision to reject the divorce petition. However, it granted the appellants the liberty to file a fresh application for dissolution after the completion of the one-year period stipulated by law.
This ruling reinforces the importance of the one-year bar on divorce petitions under the Hindu Marriage Act, highlighting the judiciary's role in upholding the sanctity of marriage and ensuring that dissolutions are granted only after careful consideration and in accordance with statutory provisions.
0 Comments
Thank you for your response. It will help us to improve in the future.