Irretrievably Broken Down Marriage Can Be Dissolved On Ground Of 'Cruelty' : Supreme Court

In a notable judgment, the Supreme Court has held that irretrievable breakdown of marriage can be read as the ground of "cruelty" under Section 13 (1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act for the dissolution of marriage.

A bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and JB Pardiwala made this notable observation while dealing with a case in which a couple had been living separately for 25 years. The couple had lived together as husband and wife for barely four years after which they fell apart. There were numerous cases filed by them against each other. Though the Family Court, in 2009, allowed the husband's petition for dissolution of marriage on the ground of cruelty, the Delhi High Court, in 2011, reversed the decree of divorce.

The Supreme Court, while considering the husband's appeal, noted that the relationship between the parties have become acrimonious over the years. The Court also noted that no child is born in the wedlock.

The bench further noted that irretrievable breakdown of marriage is not yet a ground for dissolution of marriage, though a recommendation to that effect was made by the Supreme Court in Naveen Kohli v. Neelu Kohli (2006) 4 SCC 558. The Law Commission of India, in its 71st and 217th reports, recommended that a marriage, which has de facto broken down, needs to be de jure recognised as such by the law.

Dealing with the present appeal, the bench said, "Irretrievable breakdown of a marriage may not be a ground for dissolution of marriage, under the Hindu Marriage Act, but cruelty is". It opined that "continuation of this marriage would mean continuation of cruelty, which each now inflicts on the other".

"In our considered opinion, a marital relationship which has only become more bitter and acrimonious over the years, does nothing but inflicts cruelty on both the sides. To keep the façade of this broken marriage alive would be doing injustice to both the parties. A marriage which has broken down irretrievably, in our opinion spells cruelty to both the parties, as in such a relationship each party is treating the other with cruelty. It is therefore a ground for dissolution of marriage under Section 13 (1) (ia) of the Act", the bench observed.

While the Supreme Court did not disagree with the High Court's view that mere filing of cases against the spouse will not amount to cruelty, it stated that given the facts of the case, it has to be seen that the marriage has broken down beyond repair.  The Court categorically stated that the present marriage must end as its continuation will result in cruelty to each other.

"The long separation and absence of cohabitation and the complete breakdown of all meaningful bonds and the existing bitterness between the two, has to be read as cruelty under Section 13(1) (ia) of the 1955 Act. We therefore hold that in a given case, such as the one at hand, where the marital relationship has broken down irretrievably, where there is a long separation and absence of cohabitation (as in the present case for the last 25 years), with multiple Court cases between the parties; then continuation of such a ‘marriage’ would only mean giving sanction to cruelty which each is inflicting on the other. We are also conscious of the fact that a dissolution of this marriage would affect only the two parties as there is no child out of the wedlock", the bench observed.

While allowing the husband's appeal, the Court asked him to pay Rs 30 lakhs as permanent alimony to the wife.

On a related note, it may be recalled that a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court has reserved judgment on the question whether Supreme Court can dissolve marriage invoking powers under Article 142 of the Constitution on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage(Shilpa Sailesh v. Varun Sreenivasan). 

Case Title : Shri Rakesh Raman vs Smt. Kavita

Citation.   : 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 353

Hindu Marriage Act 1955- Section 13(1)(ia)- Irretrievable breakdown of marriage can be read as "cruelty"- a marital relationship which has only become more bitter and acrimonious over the years, does nothing but inflicts cruelty on both the sides. To keep the façade of this broken marriage alive would be doing injustice to both the parties. A marriage which has broken down irretrievably, in our opinion spells cruelty to both the parties, as in such a relationship each party is treating the other with cruelty. It is therefore a ground for dissolution of marriage under Section 13 (1) (ia) of the Act-long separation and absence of cohabitation and the complete breakdown of all meaningful bonds and the existing bitterness between the two, has to be read as cruelty under Section 13(1) (ia) of the 1955 Act - Para 17, 18

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