The Supreme Court of India, in a significant matrimonial law ruling pronounced on June 2, 2026, dismissed the appeal filed by the wife and upheld the decree of divorce granted by the Rajasthan High Court, simultaneously invoking its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to dissolve the marriage on the ground of irretrievable breakdown.
"Prolongation of a matrimonial relationship would further lead not only to escalation of frustration in a dead relationship, which has already decayed and is decomposing day by day creating foul sociological, psychological and mental hollowness in life resulting in denial of a free and independent environment to flourish which each human strives in body and soul." The court said.
The parties, both doctors in government service — the wife serving in Gujarat and the husband in Rajasthan — were married on December 5, 2007, as per Hindu rites. The marriage remained largely dysfunctional from the outset, with the couple cohabiting for merely two to three months across their entire matrimonial period. No children were born from the wedlock. The husband filed a divorce petition in 2009 under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, alleging cruelty. The Family Court at Bharatpur dismissed the petition in 2019, but the Rajasthan High Court reversed this in January 2025, granting divorce. The wife then approached the Supreme Court.
The wife contended that she was always willing to continue the matrimonial relationship, that the husband had deserted her, that the ground of desertion was never pleaded in the divorce petition, and that the husband cannot take advantage of his own wrong. She relied upon Darshan Gupta v. Radhika Gupta, Vishnu Dutt Sharma v. Manju Sharma, and Samar Ghosh v. Jaya Ghosh.
The husband argued that the wife made no genuine effort to save the marriage, that the parties had lived separately for over 15 years with cohabitation of only 2-3 months in 18 years, and that denial of sexual relations on multiple occasions constituted cruelty. He urged dissolution on the ground of irretrievable breakdown.
The division bench of Justice Sanjay Karol & Justice Augustine George Masih, while placing reliance on landmark judgment of Shilpa Sailesh v. Varun Sreenivasan (2023) (Constitution Bench — irretrievable breakdown and Article 142); Samar Ghosh v. Jaya Ghosh (2007); Vikas Kanaujia v. Sarita (2025); Nayan Bhowmick v. Aparna Chakraborty (2025); and R. Srinivas Kumar v. R. Shametha (2019) has made several noteworthy observations:
- Denial of conjugal rights without reasonable cause amounts to mental cruelty under Section 13(1)(ia) HMA, as even during the short cohabitation period, the wife used to lock her room from inside at night.
- Prolonged separation of over 15 years, coupled with complete cessation of cohabitation and total failure of mediation, constitutes cruelty to both parties.
- The Court held that an Appellate Court is entitled to consider the conduct of parties during pendency of litigation as desertion which continues through litigation only aggravates the agony.
- Matrimony is "not a one-sided right to be enforced, but a shared covenant" — persistent withdrawal from its foundational aspects amounts to mental cruelty.
- Prolongation of a dead matrimonial relationship creates "foul sociological, psychological and mental hollowness", and such litigation must be ended to grant parties a free and independent life.
The Court has held that,
"In the light of what has been stated above, in our considered view, this would be a fit case where the relationship of marriage should come to an end for which exercise of powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India would be essential to do complete justice. Accordingly, the marriage between the Appellant-wife and the Respondent-husband deserves to be dissolved in exercise of powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India."
Case details:
Case No.: C.A. @ SLP (C) No. 10422/2025
Bench: Justice Sanjay Karol & Justice Augustine George Masih
Appellant (Wife): Sonal Talpada
Respondent: (Husband)Veerbhan Singh
READ ORDER
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