Case Details Dr. Nirmal Singh Panesar vs Mrs. Paramjit Kaur Panesar @ Ajinder Kaur Panesar

Court

Supreme Court of India

Date

10 October 2023

Case No.

Civil Appeal No.2045 of 2011

Result

Dismissed

Bench

Aniruddha Bose, Bela M. Trivedi

Citation

[2023] 13 S.C.R. 832 : 2023 INSC 896

Issue for consideration

Should the irretrievable breakdown of marriage necessarily result in the dissolution of marriage in exercise of powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India, when such is not a ground for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act 1955. Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 – s.13(1)(ia) and s.13(1)(ib) – District Court granted the decree of divorce, as prayed for by the appellanthusband, however, the Single Bench of the High Court reversed the same and the Division Bench of the High Court confirmed the judgment – Propriety:

Headnote

Held: Appellant-husband had failed to prove that the respondentwife had treated the appellant with “Cruelty” or that the respondent had “Deserted” the petitioner as contemplated in s.13(1)(ia) and s.13(1)(ib) respectively of the said Act – There is no dispute that the parties are staying separate since last many years and all the efforts to bring them together have failed – The Court can depart from the procedure as well as the substantive laws, and exercise its discretion u/Art. 142 for dissolving the marriage between the parties by balancing out the equities between the conflicting claims of the parties, however, such discretion should be exercised with great care and caution – The institution of marriage occupies an important place and plays an important role in the society – Therefore, it would not be desirable to accept the formula of “irretrievable break down of marriage” as a strait-jacket formula for the grant of relief of divorce u/Art. 142 of the Constitution of India – In the instant case, the appellant-husband is aged about 89 years and respondent-wife is aged about 82 years – The respondent all throughout her life has maintained the sacred relationship since 1963 and has taken care of her three children all these years, despite the fact that the appellant-husband had exhibited total hostility towards them – The respondent is still ready and willing to take care of her husband and does not wish to leave him alone at this stage of life – She has also expressed her sentiments that she does not want to die with the stigma of being a “divorcee” woman – The Court is of the opinion that exercising the discretion in favour of the appellant u/Art. 142 by dissolving the marriage between parties on the ground that the marriage has irretrievably broken down, would not be doing “complete justice” to the parties, would rather be doing injustice to the respondent – Submission of the appellant to dissolve the marriage on the ground of irretrievable break down of marriage, rejected. [Paras 14, 15, 17, 18, 19] Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 – Cruelty – Interpretation of: Held: The interpretation of the word “cruelty” is that it has to be construed and interpreted considering the type of life the parties are accustomed to; or their economic and social conditions and their culture and human values to which they attach importance – Each case has to be decided on its own merits. [Para 10]

JUDGMENT / ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT JUDGMENT BELA M. TRIVEDI, J. 1. “Should the irretrievable breakdown of marriage necessarily result in the dissolution of marriage in exercise of powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India, when such is not a ground for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act 1955?” - is the question posed before us. 2. The appellant is a qualified doctor, and was Commissioned Air Force Officer. He retired on 30.04.1990 as Wing Commander. The respondent is also a qualified teacher, who was working in a Central School, and has retired now. The appellant had filed

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