Recently, the Allahabad High Court ruled that "A Hindu marriage is a sacrament and not just a social contract where one partner abandons the other without reason or just cause or existing or valid circumstance necessitating that conduct, the sacrament loses its soul and spirit, though it may continue to hold its external form and body".
Brief Facts:
The marriage between the parties was solemnized in March 1989 and experienced numerous separations and reconciliations over 35 years, including a separation in November 1999 and another in March 2001, with the parties remaining apart since then. They had a child in 1991, now aged about 33 years old.
The relationship’s instability was evident in two prior legal proceedings: a divorce suit filed in 1990 and withdrawn in 1995 and a restitution of conjugal rights suit in 1999, also withdrawn due to the appellant’s unwillingness to cohabit.
Hence, the present appeal filed under section 19 of the Family Court Act, 1984, challenges the Family Court, Jhansi’s Judgement, which decreed the dissolution of the marriage under section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
Observation of the Court:
High Court highlighted that “A Hindu marriage is a sacrament and not just a social contract where one partner abandons the other without reason or just cause or existing or valid circumstance necessitating that conduct, the sacrament loses its soul and spirit, though it may continue to hold its external form and body. Thus, to a third party, the form may be visible, and they may continue to visualize the marriage as existing at the same time to the spouse, the sacrament may remain dead”.
However, Bench further added that “That death of the spirit and soul of a Hindu marriage may constitute cruelty to the spouse who may be thus left alone devoid of not only physical company completely deprived of the company of their spouse, at all planes of human existence”.
The decision of the Court :
The Court ruled that the parties’ marriage would remain dissolved and ordered that the appellant be awarded Rs. 5,00,000/- as permanent alimony from the respondent, with the sum to be paid within three months. If payment is delayed, 8% will be added from the end of the three months.
Coram: Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh and Justice Donadi Ramesh
Advocate for Appellant: Adv. S.N. Pandey, Havaldar Verma, K.K. Tiwari
Advocate for Respondent: Adv. S.K. Chaturvedi, S.P. Sharma
Read Judgement @LatestLaws.com:
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