SC Rejects Divorce Plea Of Man, 89, From Wife, 82: What Is The Case?

A recent case that was heard in the Supreme Court of India gained massive attention, where an 89-year-old man sought divorce from his 82-year-old wife. However, the court dismissed the petition.

A two-judge bench consisting of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Bela M. Trivedi noted that the “irretrievable breakdown of marriage” cannot always be viewed as a strait-jacket formula to grant divorce.

SC Rejects Divorce Plea Of 89-Year-Old Man

The court emphasised that marriage is still considered a pious institution in India, even if divorce cases are seeing an increase.

In this case, the court noted that the wife was willing to look after the husband and didn’t want to leave him in their later years. The wife also expressed that she didn’t want to live with the stigma of being a “divorcee” woman.

Considering all the aspects, the court opined that if divorce is granted based on an irretrievable breakdown of marriage, then it would amount to an injustice to the wife.

Why The Elderly Man Wants to Divorce His Wife

It was submitted to the Supreme Court that the 89-year-old man had filed for divorce after the couple’s relationship turned sour when the husband, who had served in the Indian army, was stationed in Chennai in January 1984 and the wife chose not to accompany him. She instead opted to reside initially with her husband’s parents and later with the couple’s son.

The husband eventually filed for divorce on the grounds that his wife was refusing to join him in Chennai, indicating her intention to permanently terminate cohabitation without any justifiable grounds.

Initially, a district court allowed the pleas to dissolve the marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the district judge’s order, prompting the man to file a plea at the Supreme Court.

The elderly man argued before the Supreme Court that the High Court made a mistake by overturning the divorce decree, which concluded that the wife had inflicted cruelty by deserting the husband without any justifiable explanation.

The wife’s counsel countered the argument that a mere long period of separation doesn’t contribute to an irretrievable breakdown of marriage and noted that the wife has made all efforts to respect their sacred relationship.

After observing all the submissions, the Supreme Court eventually agreed that the wife had maintained the relationship since 1963 and raised the couple’s three children even when the husband had displayed hostility towards them. Therefore, the Supreme Court rejected the husband’s pleas to dissolve the marriage and dismissed his appeal.

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