Mandatory 6-month waiting period for divorce can be dispensed with, holds SC's 5-judge Constitution Bench

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, May 1

The Supreme Court can grant a decree of divorce on the grounds of “irretrievable breakdown of marriage” invoking its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, a five-judge Constitution Bench ruled on Monday.

The Constitution Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul held that the mandatory six-month waiting period for divorce by mutual consent under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, can be dispensed with.

Article 142 empowers the top court to pass decrees and orders which are necessary for “doing complete justice” in any cause or matter pending before it.

The ruling came on petitions raising the issue of the use of plenary powers by the Supreme Court to dissolve a marriage between consenting parties without referral to family courts to wait for the mandatory period prescribed under Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act.

The matter was referred to a five-judge Constitution Bench in 2016 by a division Bench led by Justice Shiva Kirti Singh.