Marriage – Irretrievable break down – Appellant contended that the appellant and the respondent were living apart due to matrimonial discord for the last 13 years and as there are no prospects for reconciliation, the marriage has irretrievably broken down:
Held: The appellant lost his job in Canada and the family came back to India in January, 2011 – The couple last resided together in appellant’s mother’s house till 19.02.2011 – After this date, they lost contact with each other, and the respondent refused to return to the matrimonial home – On being contacted, the respondent refused to resume matrimonial life unless the appellant separates from his family and resides in a separate household – On account of appellant’s inability to accede to this demand of the respondent, she never returned to resume the matrimonial life – The respondent did not appear in the proceedings u/s. 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act, despite receiving summons – Similarly, in the present divorce proceedings also the respondent failed to enter appearance despite service of notice in the Trial Court, High Court and Supreme Court as well – Thus, it is apparent that the respondent does not wish to continue the marital chord and is not responding to court summons – There is no hesitation in holding that the present is a case of irretrievable breakdown of marriage as there is no possibility of the couple staying together – For the foregoing reasons, the marriage between the parties is dissolved in exercise of powers u/Art. 142(1) of the Constitution. [Paras 11, 12, 15, 16]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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