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SC relief for ‘amicable couple’
Why is it in news?
- The Supreme Court has allowed a couple to go their separate ways without waiting for the mandatory “cooling-off” period of six months on learning that they have decided to part as friends.
- The apex court dissolved the marriage by a decree of divorce by mutual consent.
- It also quashed criminal proceedings before a Gujarat court.
Significance of Judgement
- This is one of the first cases in which the Supreme Court has followed its own September 2017 ruling.
- It ruled in 2017, that Hindu couples, who have mutually agreed to separate, need not wait any more for the mandatory “cooling-off ” period of six months before divorce.
- Previously, under the Hindu Marriage Act, once a couple moved a court of law for divorce, they had to wait for a minimum period of six months before the court actually passed a decree of divorce.
- Divorce by mutual consent was introduced as an amendment to the Hindu Marriage Act in 1976.
- The waiting period under Section 13B was mandated to prevent couples from taking any hasty decision to end their marriage.
Source
The Hindu