The Supreme Court of India has delivered a significant judgment granting divorce to a couple on the grounds of desertion, overturning a High Court order that had set aside the divorce decree.
In a judgment passed on July 8, 2024, a Division Bench comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan allowed the appeal filed by the husband against the Punjab and Haryana High Courts order that had set aside a divorce decree granted by the Family Court.
The court noted that the couple had been living separately since 2008, and despite a decree for restitution of conjugal rights passed in 2013, the wife had not resumed cohabitation with the husband.
The Supreme Court observed, This is a case of a complete breakdown of marriage for the last 16 years and more. The court found that the High Courts judgment on the issue of desertion could not be sustained, given the earlier findings of the lower courts.
Importantly, the court ruled, Though we are passing a decree of divorce on the ground of desertion, we will have to clarify that the decree shall come into operation after a sum of Rs. 30 lakhs is paid to the respondent. This amount was offered by the husband as lump sum alimony.
The court directed that the divorce decree would come into effect only after the husband pays Rs. 30 lakhs to the wife within three months. This payment is to be considered as full and final settlement of the wifes claim for maintenance.
[Read Judgment]
