Supreme Court refuses to let an 89 year old army man divorce his 82 year old wife

"Despite the increasing trend of filing divorce proceedings in the courts of law, the institution of marriage is still considered to be a pious, spiritual and invaluable emotional life-net between the husband and the wife in Indian society," the Bench observed.

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ON Tuesday, the Supreme Court denied divorce to an 89-year-old husband from his wife who is about 82 years old despite the fact they have been living separately for many years and all the efforts to bring them together have failed.

A Bench comprising Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M. Trivedi was ruling on a petition filed by the husband challenging the Order of the division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court affirming the decision of the single-judge quashing the decision of the district judge, Chandigarh who had allowed the petition filed by the husband to dissolve the marriage under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

The Bench noted that the institution of marriage occupies an important place and plays an vital role in the society.

The acrimony in their relationship developed when the husband was posted at Madras in January 1984 and the wife did not join him and preferred to stay initially with the parents of the husband and thereafter with her son.

The case of the husband before the district court was that by refusing to join the husband at Madras, the wife wanted to bring cohabitation permanently to an end without reasonable cause. The Punjab and Haryana High Court, however, held that if the wife did not agree to have herself transferred to Madras, it could not be held that the wife wanted to bring cohabitation permanently to an end without reasonable cause.

The high court ruled out that it was a case of cruelty on the part of the wife.

The Supreme Court Bench also upheld the high court's findings. The Bench noted that the wife had maintained the sacred relationship since 1963 and had taken care of her three children all these years, despite the fact that the appellant-husband had exhibited total hostility towards them.

"The respondent-wife is still ready and willing to take care of her husband and does not wish to leave him alone at this stage of life. She has also expressed her sentiments that she does not want to die with the stigma of being a 'divorcee' woman," the Bench noted.

The Bench also turned down the request to grant the divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage.

"Despite the increasing trend of filing divorce proceedings in the courts of law, the institution of marriage is still considered to be a pious, spiritual and invaluable emotional life-net between the husband and the wife in Indian society," the Bench observed.

"Under the circumstances, considering and respecting the sentiments of the respondent wife, the court is of the opinion that exercising the discretion in favour of the appellant under Article 142 by dissolving the marriage between parties on the ground that the marriage has irretrievably broken down would not be doing 'complete justice' to the parties. It would rather be doing injustice to the respondent," the Bench held.

The parties had married as per the Sikh rites on March 10, 1963 at Amritsar. The marriage was consummated and they were blessed with three children, two of whom are daughters.

As per the case of the husband, he was serving in the Indian army and the wife was serving as a teacher in Central School in Amritsar.

Till January 1984, the relations between the parties were normal. The acrimony in their relationship developed when the husband was posted at Madras in January 1984 and the respondent-wife did not join him. 

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