New Delhi. The Supreme Court on Monday said a couple can exercise its prerogative under Article 142 of the Constitution to grant instant divorce if there is no possibility of amicable settlement of the dispute between them.
The apex court made it clear that it can take a decision granting instant divorce without waiting for the period of six months prescribed under the law relating to marriage.Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice A S Oka, Justice Vikram Nath And a constitution bench of Justice JK Maheshwari gave this unanimous verdict after hearing five petitions on a reference made in 2016.
The bench, however, also said in its decision that the powers of Article 142 should be exercised on the basis of fundamental principle of public policy. The top court gave a unanimous verdict on petitions filed for the exercise of absolute powers of the court to dissolve marriage between consenting parties without referring them to family courts to wait for the mandatory period prescribed under the Hindu Marriage Act.
The top court, while hearing a reference made in 2016, had reserved its decision on 29 September 2022 on five petitions. In this case, Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave appeared as Amicus Curiae (Friend of Justice), while Senior Advocates V Giri and Indira Jaisingh presented arguments on behalf of other parties.
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