Hindu Marriage Act, 1955
Section 13(1)(ib)—Divorce—Ground of desertion—Judgment and decree dissolving the marriage on ground of desertion by wife set aside by the High Court—Appeal—Parties have been living separately for better part of their lives i.e. twenty-four years without any hope of reconciliation—Long period of separation without any hope of reconciliation amounts to cruelty to both the parties—Spouses’ strongly held views and their refusal to accommodate each other amounts to cruelty to one another—Parties have refused to cohabit with each other due to a fundamental difference in their approach towards matrimonial life—Apex Court in exercise of power to do “complete justice” under Article 142(1) of the Constitution of India has the discretion to dissolve the marriage on ground of irretrievable break-down—Parties have lived separately for far too long a period of time and there is no sanctity left in the marriage—Pendency of matrimonial litigation for a long duration only leads to perpetuity of marriage on paper—No useful purpose shall be served by keeping the matrimonial litigation pending without granting relief to the parties—Marriage between the parties has irretrievably broken down and, therefore, in exercise of its power under Article 142 of the Constitution of India dissolves the marriage between the parties—Appeal allowed.
[Paras 20 to 35]