The Allahabad High Court has held that the family court ought not to reject an application for waving the statutory cooling period of six months in divorce proceedings under Section 13B(2) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 in a mechanical manner.
A bench consisting of Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh and Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal placed reliance on an earlier decision of the bench headed by Justice Singh in Vijay Agarwal v. Smt. Suchita Bansal, where the Court had held that it is not mandatory to undergo the cooling-off period. It is merely directory, and the Court possesses the authority for the discretion of the cooling off period.
The Court noted that the Family Court had made a ‘superficial observation’ on the parties living separately for over a year. While rejecting the application, the Family Court had observed that the parties should have taken some additional time to reconsider their decision on marriage. On the aforesaid observation of the Family Court, the High Court observed
“Other than a bald observation that the parties should have taken more time to reconsider their position and their stand qua their marriage, no fact discussion has emerged in the order as may allow this Court to reach a conclusion that the learned court below had found a firm opinion that it was not in the interest of the parties and in the interest of the justice to waive off the requirement of six months.”
Subsequently, it directed the Family Court to come up with a fresh order on observing that reliance placed on a judgment could not be rejected merely because the parties had not provided a copy of the judgment they were relying on.
News Source: https://www.livelaw.in/high-court/allahabad-high-court/allahabad-high-court-mutual-divorce-cooling-off-period-waiver-family-court-238368
