A Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that it can dissolve a marriage using its plenary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution in cases where consenting parties face an irretrievable breakdown of a marriage.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, Abhay S Oka, Vikram Nath and JK Maheshwari also held that the six-month period prescribed in the Hindu Marriage Act can also be dispensed with.
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The order by the Constitution bench of the top court came following a hearing on a batch of petitions on whether the Supreme Court can exercise its -plenary powers to grant a divorce to consenting parties without referring such cases to the family court or wait for a mandatory period of six months under Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act.
“Article 142 must be considered in light of the fundamental rights. It should contravene a non-derogable function of the Constitution. Court under the power is empowered to complete justice,” the court noted, according to Bar and Bench.
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Article 142 of the Constitution of India empowers the Supreme Court to pass orders and decrees which are deemed necessary for “doing complete justice” in any matter pending before it.
The petitions filed before the top court dealt with issues including whether the Supreme Court can exercise its special powers to dissolve a marriage, what the broad parameters of such powers would be and whether invoking such powers was allowed in the absence of the mutual consent of parties.
The case was referred to a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court on June 29, 2016 by a division bench in a transfer petition. The five-judge bench reserved the verdict on September 29, 2022.