Supreme Court Grants Divorce to Couple Living Apart for 25 Years
The Supreme Court has dissolved the marriage of a couple who lived apart for 25 years, stating that recognizing them as married would be “sanctioning cruelty.” The couple had only lived together for four years.
A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and JB Pardiwala ruled that the “complete severance of all meaningful ties and existing bitterness between the two” should be interpreted as “cruelty” under the Hindu Marriage Act.
The court noted, “We have before us a married couple who have been together as a couple for hardly four years and have been living separately for the last 25 years. They don’t have children, and their marital bond is completely broken, beyond repair.”
The Supreme Court emphasized that ending this marriage was necessary because continuing it would mean sanctioning cruelty. Prolonged separation, absence of cohabitation, and complete severance of all meaningful ties and existing bitterness should be read as cruelty under the Hindu Marriage Act.
The court stated that the dissolution of their marriage would only affect them since they have no children. The man, who earns over ₹1 lakh per month, is required to pay ₹30 lakh to the woman within four weeks.
The couple got married in Delhi in 1994. The man alleged that the woman had an abortion that same year without informing him and disliked their small house. Four years into the marriage, the woman left and filed a dowry harassment case against him. Both the man and his brother were arrested but later released on bail. The man subsequently filed for divorce.
The trial court granted the divorce on the grounds of cruelty and long separation. However, the Delhi High Court rejected the divorce request, leading the man to challenge the high court’s decision in the Supreme Court.
This landmark decision underscores the Supreme Court’s stance on long-term estranged relationships, recognizing that prolonged separation and bitterness constitute cruelty, thus justifying the dissolution of marriage.
