Supreme Court: Uunder Article 142 of Constitution to grant a decree of Divorce in cases of irretrievable breakdown of marriage

Supreme Court today held that it can exercise its plenary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to grant a decree of Divorce to consenting parties, in cases of irretrievable breakdown of marriage.

A Constitution Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and others held that the six month period prescribed under the Hindu Marriage Act can be dispensed with.

The verdict came in a batch of petitions concerning the use of the top court’s plenary powers to dissolve a marriage between consenting parties without referral to family courts to wait for the mandatory period prescribed under Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act.