Jharkhand High Court
Avinash Kumar Tiwari vs Mala Tiwari on 2 August, 2022
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
(Civil Appellate Jurisdiction)
First Appeal No. 32 of 2020
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Avinash Kumar Tiwari ... Appellant
Versus
Mala Tiwari .... Respondent
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SHREE CHANDRASHEKHAR
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RATNAKER BHENGRA
For the Appellant : Mr. Pratik Sen, Advocate
For the Respondent : Mr. Arun Kumar Pandey, Advocate
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Order No.15/Dated: 2nd August 2022
Original Maintenance Suit No. 586 of 2016 (in short,
divorce suit) was instituted by Avinash Kumar Tiwari who was
married with Smt. Mala Tiwari on 21 st November 2011, for a decree
of dissolution of marriage on the ground of cruelty.
2. This was 2nd divorce suit filed by the husband - HMA
No. 210 of 2012 was the first one.
3. The divorce suit was dismissed on contest vide
judgment dated 31st January 2020, against which the husband
has filed the present First Appeal under section 19(1) of the Family
Courts Act, 1984.
4. The husband laid evidence narrating various acts of
harassment and mental torture at the hands of his wife in
particular on account of lodging of criminal cases against him and
his family members. On the other hand, the wife also produced
witnesses to support serious allegations of her harassment and
torture in the matrimonial home and demand of dowry.
5. Seeking transfer of HMA No. 210 of 2012, the wife
instituted petition under section 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure
which was numbered as Transfer Petition (Civil) No. 1400 of 2012.
Under the orders passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, the couple
started living together happily and the parties gave an undertaking
before the Hon'ble Supreme Court to withdraw the cases filed
against each other.
6. In the present proceeding, the predecessor Court
passed an order on 8th March 2021 directing the parties to explore
possibility of an amicable settlement and for that purpose they
were directed to approach the Mediator at JHALSA, Ranchi.
However, the efforts by the learned Mediator in resolving the
conflict did not bear any fruit and a failure report was submitted to
this Court which is recorded in the order dated 28 th September
2021.
7. This First Appeal was listed before us on 3 rd March
2022 when at the instance of Mr. Pratik Sen, the learned counsel
for the appellant, the matter was adjourned for 7 th March 2022. As
the proceedings before us would disclose, even after hearing the
matter substantially we saw a flicker of hope that there was still a
chance of conciliation between the parties. In the order dated 6 th
June 2022 we have recorded that: "what we gathered from the
records is that on account of some misunderstanding which led to
filing of criminal cases, there is a stalemate between the parties
which perhaps with the help of a Mediator can be resolved".
8. Now with the help of Mr. P. N. Singh, the learned
Mediator, the parties have agreed upon an amicable settlement of
their disputes. The learned Mediator has forwarded a hand written
copy of the settlement signed by both the parties in presence of
their learned counsels, and certified by the learned Mediator dated
2nd July 2022.
9. Mr. Pratik Sen, the learned counsel for the appellant
and Mr. Arun Kumar Pandey, the learned counsel for the
respondent make statement in the Court that the appellant and
the respondent both have again informed them that they genuinely
intend to abide by the terms of settlement dated 2nd July 2022.
10. Let a copy of the letter dated 4 th July 2022 from the
learned Mediator, JHALSA with accompanying settlement dated 2 nd
July 2022 be provided to the learned counsels appearing for the
parties so as to enable them to file a joint petition under
section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and other necessary
applications in the pending cases.
11. The learned counsels appearing for the parties inform
us that latest by the week commencing from 22 nd August 2022 the
parties shall be filing a joint petition for divorce by mutual consent
and appear before the Court concerned. On instructions, the
learned counsels further state that other applications for
withdrawal of the criminal cases and petition under section 125 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure shall be filed in due course within
the stipulated time.
12. Post this matter on 8th September 2022 to apprise the
Court about the steps taken by the parties.
(Shree Chandrashekhar, J.)
(Ratnaker Bhengra, J.)
Amit/
