In Thiruvananthapuram, on September 22nd, the Kerala High Court has stepped in and made the decision to terminate a marriage that had been facing severe difficulties for the past 38 years. The court argued that keeping a marriage intact when it had irreparably broken down would be cruel to both parties, citing a precedent set by the apex court which asserted that forcing parties to stay together in such circumstances amounted to cruelty on both sides.
This conclusion was reached when an elderly appellant, the husband of the respondent, appealed after his request for divorce on the grounds of cruelty was rejected by a family court. The distressed man claimed that the marriage had reached a point of no return, and the refusal to grant mutual separation should be considered a form of cruelty. He also highlighted that he had been neglected by his wife and two children, and that he had not even been invited to his son’s wedding.
The respondent, on the other hand, denied the allegations against her, arguing that minor disagreements in the marriage should not be equated with cruelty. The Family Court concurred, finding that the allegations did not constitute mental or physical cruelty sufficient to grant a divorce, and subsequently dismissed the plea.
However, the high court recognized that the 38-year-old marriage could not be salvaged and observed that the appellant was living alone. Ultimately, relying on the Supreme Court’s stance, the court concluded that “keeping the marriage intact itself would be cruel to both parties, serving no meaningful purpose.” As a result, the court allowed the appeal and dissolved the marriage between the parties.
Source: https://theshillongtimes.com/2023/09/22/kerala-hc-dissolves-marriage-after-38-years/
