‘Marriages going haywire’: Delhi court calls for mandatory pre-nup agreements

Noting that the parties are not willing to live together in the future and there is consent for the dissolution of their marriage, judge Harish Kumar of a family court pronounced its order on October 3 granting a ‘no-fault divorce’ by mutual consent exercising its power under section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act

The time has come for making pre-nuptial agreements compulsory after counselling of the parties, a Delhi court has said, pointing out the possible risk of marriages “going haywire”.

(Representative Photo)

The observation came as the court was hearing a matter related to a couple’s separate pleas for divorce on the grounds of cruelty and that they separated over seven years back.

In its order, the court also asked to report every time a breach occurs under intimation to the party allegedly at fault making it clear that if the breach is not reported he/she would not be heard later.

Noting that the parties are not willing to live together in the future and there is consent for the dissolution of their marriage, judge Harish Kumar of a family court pronounced its order on October 3 granting a ‘no-fault divorce’ by mutual consent exercising its power under section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act.

Section 13B of the act allows for a divorce by mutual consent if a petition is presented before the court seeking divorce by mutual consent on the grounds that they have been living separately for one year or more and that they have mutually agreed to dissolve their marriage.

“Spirit of the Family Court Act also brings out settlement between the parties, which means putting quietus to their dispute. In the present case, if the prayer of husband or wife is accepted holding the other spouse guilty of a matrimonial offence, the person against whom findings would go will take the matter to a higher forum thus dragging the other into the rigmarole of further round of litigation with added agony and harassment. Similarly, refusal of their respective prayer, if they failed to prove their allegation, would also lead to law-induced mental cruelty. Hence, in the peculiar facts of this case dissolving their marriage under Section 13B of the HMA is the only way out to provide quietus to their unending matrimonial acrimony and bitterness”, the court said in its order.

The couple got married on March 8, 2011, as per Hindu rites. In 2016, the husband approached the family court in Mumbai’s Bandra, seeking divorce on grounds of ‘cruelty’ following which the wife was served notice on the petition of the husband.

Later, the wife also approached the family court filing a petition under the Prevention of Women from Domestic Violence Act. An application was later filed to amend the petition and add a counter-prayer for a grant of divorce on the grounds of cruelty.