Exceptional ground of divorce upon irretrievable breakdown of marriage- Only under Supreme Court’s power to do complete justice

This case was the first case where the Court recognised irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a ground for divorce. Ashok and Rupa filed for mutual consent divorce under Hindu Marriage Act after 14 years of marriage. All the reconciliation attempts were unsuccessful and pending the divorce proceedings, Ashok entered into a bigamous marriage. In the meantime, Rupa withdrew the consent for divorce 19 months after the filing of the petition. The trial court refused to decree divorce but in appeal the single judge bench of Gujarat High Court permitted divorce on the ground that the marriage had broken down irretrievably. This order was reversed on appeal to the Division bench which held that irretrievable breakdown is not a ground under the law and for mutual consent divorce, consent should continue until the divorce is decreed. The Supreme Court, on appeal, invoked its extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 142 of the Constitution and granted the divorce conditional on Ashok paying INR 10 lakhs to Rupa. It noted the following reasons for its decision: the marriage had irretrievably broken down and prolonging the agony of the couple was pointless; there was a long delay in the disposal of the case, the consent was withdrawn after the statutory 18 month period had lapsed and the marriage was emotionally and practically dead. The Court, thus, awarded the divorce decree keeping a ‘total and broad view of the ground realities’. It is a landmark case in Indian family law as it recognises the need for no-fault divorce where consent of both parties is absent. It cited the Law Commission report with approval that in cases of irretrievable breakdown, ‘the marriage has all the external appearance of marriage, but none of the reality…there is hardly any utility in maintaining the marriage as a facade, when the essence of marriage have disappeared’. The legislature has still not enacted laws to include irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a ground for divorce.