‘Living apart from each other for a long time…’, Supreme Court approves the divorce petition of the couple who were living apart for 24 years.

The Supreme Court on Monday, while approving the divorce petition of the estranged husband and wife, said that with no hope of reconciliation, the couple’s separation from each other for a long time is tantamount to cruelty towards both the parties.

A bench of Justice Manmohan and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, while hearing the case, took cognizance of the fact that the couple, who tied the knot on August 4, 2000, started litigation in 2003, just two years after their marriage, and have been living separately for 24 years due to differences of opinion.

The bench said that despite repeated efforts by the courts, no settlement agreement was reached between the two parties.

What else did the bench say on the whole matter?
The bench said that in many cases such situations have come before this court, where the parties have been living separately for a long time and it has been consistently held that separation for a long time without any hope of reconciliation amounts to cruelty to both the parties.

The top court said, “This court also agrees that long pendency of cases related to matrimonial disputes reduces marriage to mere papers.” In such cases where the litigation is pending for a long time, severance of relations between the parties is in the interest of the parties and society.

“Therefore, this Court is of the opinion that no useful purpose will be served by keeping the matrimonial suit pending in the court without providing relief to the parties,” the bench said.

Using the powers conferred under Article 142 of the Constitution, the apex court ordered the dissolution of the marriage of a couple resident in Shillong.

It upheld the order of the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Judicial), Shillong, and set aside the order of the High Court which had restored the marriage on the wife’s plea that she had no intention of permanently abandoning or abandoning her husband.

‘Behavior tantamount to cruelty towards each other’
The bench said that the husband and wife in this case had strong views regarding their outlook towards married life and had refused to adjust to each other for a long time.

“As a result, their conduct amounts to cruelty towards each other,” the bench said. This Court is of the view that in matrimonial matters involving two persons, it is not the job of the society or the Court to decide whether the view of which spouse is right or wrong. Their refusal to establish harmony with each other is tantamount to cruelty towards each other.