New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dissolved the marriage between an NRI couple, invoking its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to ensure “complete justice” after holding that the relationship had irretrievably broken down with no possibility of reconciliation.
Allowing an appeal filed by the husband, a Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta set aside a Bombay High Court judgment which had ruled that Indian courts lacked jurisdiction in the matter and upheld a foreign divorce decree granted by a US court.
“It is evident that this is a case of irretrievable breakdown of marriage, with the respondent-wife having pursued a decree of divorce in the US and the appellant-husband pursuing one in India. There is clearly no dispute between the parties that the marriage has irretrievably broken down and that there is no prospect of reconciliation,” the Justice Nath-led Bench remarked.
The couple had married on December 25, 2005, in Mumbai, according to Hindu rites and rituals and later lived together in the United States. Matrimonial disputes arose within a few years, leading the wife to file for divorce before a Michigan court in September 2008, while the husband initiated divorce proceedings before the Family Court in Pune the following month under the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA).
The US court granted a divorce decree in February 2009 on the grounds of the breakdown of the marriage and also passed orders regarding the division of property and financial payments between the parties.
However, the Supreme Court held that such a foreign decree could not automatically be recognised in India if it did not satisfy the conditions laid down under Indian law. “In the present case, the US Court granted a decree of divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage. This ground is not recognised under the HMA, which is the matrimonial law applicable to the parties,” the Justice Nath-led Bench said.
It further noted that the husband had not effectively participated in the foreign proceedings and had only filed a written statement contesting jurisdiction. “It cannot, therefore, be said that he voluntarily or effectively submitted to the jurisdiction of the foreign forum, or that he was afforded a meaningful opportunity to contest the matter,” the top court added.
Referring to its earlier ruling in Y. Narasimha Rao vs. Y. Venkata Lakshmi, the Justice Nath-led Bench reiterated that a foreign divorce decree would be recognised only if it is granted on grounds recognised under the matrimonial law governing the parties and where the opposite party has effectively participated in the proceedings.
“The foreign decree accordingly does not satisfy the conditions laid down in Y. Narasimha Rao and the principles of natural justice cannot be said to have been complied with,” the apex court held.
Holding that the foreign decree was therefore not conclusive or binding, the Supreme Court said that deciding the question of territorial jurisdiction between Indian and US courts was no longer necessary.
“The parties have been separated since 2008, nearly eighteen years now, and it is manifest that no matrimonial bond subsists between them,” the Justice Nath-led Bench observed.
Invoking its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, the apex court granted a decree of divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage.
The Supreme Court clarified that in light of its decision, the question of jurisdiction between the Pune Family Court and the US court need not be conclusively determined.
It added that the divorce petition pending before the Family Court in Pune would stand closed in view of the decree granted by the apex court.
(IANS)
