New Delhi: Taking note of the fact a couple had been living separately for over a decade, the Supreme Court on Wednesday, granted divorce to the couple from Jharkhand on the condition that all pending civil and criminal cases filed against each stood quashed, subject to the husband giving a permanent alimony of Rs 10 lakhs to the wife and her 20-year-old daughter.
A bench of Justices A.M. Sapre and Uday Lalit passed the judgment while exercising its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution and quashed all pending cases to give a quietus to the matrimonial dispute.
In its order the Bench said “It is not in dispute that the parties have been living separately for the last more than a decade. All attempts of reconciliation through mediation have failed. It is, therefore, clear that there is absolutely no chance of both living together to continue their marital life. “
The Bench said “in order to ensure that the parties may live peacefully in future and their daughter would be settled properly in her life, a quietus must be given to all litigations between the parties.”
The Bench disposed off an appeal filed by the wife Manju Kumari Singh @ Smt. Manju Singh, a school teacher challenging the concurrent orders passed by a matrimonial court in Ranchi and Jharkhand high court granting divorce to the husband Avinash Kumar Singh., who had sought divorce on grounds of “cruelty” allegedly meted out to him by the wife, which the latter had denied. They were married in 1997.
The apex court while upholding the divorce however, said the same would become effective on the husband paying Rs. 10 lakhs in two installments towards permanent alimony and maintenance to the appellant and his daughter. It said all allegations made in pending cases arising out of the matrimonial proceedings including the one out of which this appeal arises are expunged. All proceedings pending in various Courts, if any, shall stand disposed of accordingly.
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