The Kerala High Court has ruled that family courts cannot dispose of applications for time-bound adjudication by simply stating that the case will be disposed of at the earliest opportunity. Instead, they must establish a specific timeframe for resolution.
In 2018, the petitioner (the wife) filed a petition with the family court seeking the dissolution of her marriage with her husband under Section 13(1)(i)(a) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. In 2022, the petitioner filed an interlocutory application requesting a time-bound resolution of the original petition. However, the family court granted the application without specifying a timeframe and only stated that the case would be disposed of at the earliest.
The Kerala High Court referred to the Shiju Joy v. Nisha [2021 (2) KLT 607] case, which provided specific instructions for family courts to follow in order to ensure timely justice. The court noted that simply disposing of an application for time-bound adjudication by stating that it will be done “at the earliest” does not comply with the guidelines established in the Shiju Joy case.
The court emphasized that if a party requests an early hearing or time-bound resolution of a case for a valid reason, the family court must appropriately address it by issuing an order for early hearing or time-bound disposal of the case. If the applicant fails to provide a justifiable reason, the family court must dismiss the application while giving a brief explanation.
The court instructed the family court to resolve the original petition as soon as possible and ensure that it is disposed of within a maximum of three months.
Source: https://www.livelaw.in/amp/news-updates/kerala-high-court-time-bound-disposal-family-court-fix-time-frame-226119
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