SangsLegal News A Closer Look at Recent Divorce Rulings by various High Courts and Supreme Court.

Supreme Court: The Apex court can grant divorce using Article 142 powers on irretrievable breakdown of marriage. The Constitution Bench clarifies that the court possesses the authority to terminate a marriage based on irretrievable breakdown, as stated under Article 142(1) of the Constitution of India which allows the SC to do ‘complete justice’ in ‘any cause or matter’.

Supreme Court: The existence of a divorce petition between the parties is not sufficient reason to dismiss a criminal case for dowry demand.

Bombay High Court: Being married to an individual with epilepsy is not considered a valid reason for seeking divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act. The court emphasized that epilepsy does not qualify as a mental disorder.

Bombay High Court: Woman who vacates matrimonial house prior to divorce cannot assert the right to reside in the house, despite having an ongoing appeal.

Chhattisgarh High Court: If wife demands to stay together with her husband at the location of his official posting is not cruelty under Hindu Marriage Act.

Delhi High Court: Husband forming friendships at his workplace is not an act of cruelty. The court emphasizes that consuming alcohol on a daily basis does not deem him an alcoholic unless there have been no negative incidents associated with it.

Delhi High Court: The financial instability of a spouse can be considered as a form of mental cruelty, leading to the granting of a divorce to the wife.

Delhi High Court: False allegations by wife, the threat of being summoned to police station are cruelty as such accusations impacts mental imbalance of the husband.

Gujarat High Court: Women are eligible to file a cruelty case under Section 498A IPC after getting a divorce; however, this provision applies only to incidents that occurred during the course of their marriage.

Karnataka High Court: A wife's act of referring to her husband as dark-skinned, can be considered as a form of cruelty and granted divorce to the husband.

Kerala High Court: The law does not discriminate between acts of cruelty in divorce cases based on religious affiliation such as Hindu, Christian, Muslim, or secular.

Kerala High Court: The Court has invalidated Section 10A of the Indian Divorce Act, which previously required a one-year waiting period for couples wishing to file for divorce through mutual consent.

Kerala High Court: Muslim women hold an inherent right to seek divorce through Khula, without necessitating the consent of their husbands or an official declaration by a court.

Patna High Court:  Hindu Marriage Act clearly states that the inability of a wife to bear a child is neither considered as impotence nor a valid ground for divorce.