Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage
A special ground on which only Supreme Court can grant Divorce while using his constitutional power under Article 142. Irretrievable breakdown of marriage means when it is impossible to save the marriage and all efforts are made in that regard and the Court is convinced beyond any doubt that there is actually no chance of the marriage surviving and it is broken beyond repair; Marriage is totally unworkable, emotionally dead, beyond salvage and has broken down irretrievably.
71st report of Law commission of India in March 2009, also suggested that immediate action be taken to introduce an amendment in the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and the Special Marriage Act, 1954 for inclusion of ‘irretrievable breakdown of marriage’ as another ground for grant of divorce.
The earlier instance that can be found where Supreme Court, discussed Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage in detail is Ms. Jordan Diengdeh vs S.S. Chopra, 1985 AIR 935, 1985 SCR Supl. (1) 704, held on 10 May, 1985 and, recommended it to be inserted as a ground in law for Divorce.
In Recent judgment of Munish Kakkar vs. Nidhi Kakkar on 17th December 2019, Supreme court granted divorce while stating that when the continuity of marriage is fruitless and also causing further emotional trauma and disturbance to both parties, an end to this marriage would permit the parties to go their own way in life after having spent two decades battling each other, and there can always be hope, even at this age, for a better life, if not together, separately. Supreme Court also added a caution with its judgment provided in R. Srinivas Kumar v. R. Shametha, 1(2019) 9 SCC 409, On 4th October 2019, that powers under Article 142 are exercised not in routine, but in rare cases, in view of the absence of legislation in this behalf, where it is found that a marriage is totally unworkable, emotionally dead, beyond salvage and has broken down irretrievably. The court stated that the provisions of Article 142 of the Constitution provide a unique power to the Supreme Court, to do “complete justice” between the parties, i.e., where at times law or statute may not provide a remedy, the Court can extend itself to put a quietus to a dispute in a manner which would befit the facts of the case. It is with this objective that we find it appropriate to take recourse to this provision.
Also Read:- What is the procedure for divorce by mutual consent under Hindu Law?