Supreme Court Ends 22-Year Divorce Fight: Irretrievable Breakdown and Article 142 Power
Some twenty years after it was filed in 1980, and after heartbreaking trials of anxiety over the legal outcome. The recent decision by the Supreme Court in India has finally brought resolution to a protracted 22-year-old matrimonial quarrel with a pronouncement. After continuous anger over divorce, because the marriage had completely broken down hopelessly.
At the same time, its conclusion once again reflected the Supreme Court’s extraordinary powers of intervention under Article 142 of the Constitution. It has a mix of shell-like frames of governmental practice when necessary in order to give complete justice.
It did more than ruin one marriage. India’s highest court, however, is also faced with fundamental cases and involved decisions. It was given that another movement in this century would have to deal with such questions.
It also revives an important debate within Indian family law. Should the irretrievable breakdown of marriage become a statutory ground for divorce? This blog will discuss the details of Article 142 power and the details of the legal cases.
Background of the 22-Year Legal Battle
A husband and wife living separately for almost 30 years were at issue before the Supreme Court. It had become effectively null and void shortly after the marriage began. This leads to a lot of rounds of litigation in the family court and the high court.
First, one party accused the other of cruelty, desertion, or bad faith, but then the roles were reversed. A lot of attempts at reunion failed. Despite spin-out desertion, the legal marital bond remains unbroken due to existing divorce laws. Courts in this case cite grounds laid down by relevant statutes and provisions
Understanding “Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage”
What we call a hopeless breakdown of marriage simply means the relationship has totally failed, and it’s over. There’s no going back now or maybe ever again, not even stretching out by a week.
At such times, keeping a marriage alive serves no real meaning. Unlike cruelty or adultery, Irretrievable Breakdown focuses on the state of the marriage rather than on the fault of the parties involved. It is an insight that love can turn sour even though no identifiable wrong is done in one precise place or moment.
Status Under Indian Law
In India, marital law does not recognise a lost breakdown as a basis for filing a divorce suit. Parliament has thought of making it one by amendment to the law, and the Lord Chancellor said this was a “recommendation which should receive careful consideration”. But the question of how it should actually happen in legislation is still open for debate.
Therefore, trapped in a dead marriage are the parties themselves. Unless one of them can prove particular statutory grounds or they reach an agreement to separate, that cohesion will remain legislated.
Article 142: The Supreme Court’s Extraordinary Power
Article 142 of the Constitution confers on the Supreme Court. The power to issue whatever decrees or orders are necessary for doing “complete justice” in any cause or matter pending before it. This power is unique and has no direct parallel in lower courts.
In rare cases when existing provisions would lead to injustice, the Supreme Court of India has applied Article 142 to fill in gaps.
Use in Matrimonial Disputes
Specific situations in which the Supreme Court has called upon Article 142 in extraordinary divorce suits are:
- Parties have lived apart for many years now
- Disputes have been taken to court time and over again but never settled
- There is no chance of reconciliation
- Mental anguish induced by continuing the marriage
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