SC overturns divorce of man who 'renounced the world'

The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside the divorce decree of a man even though he claimed to have renounced the world, saying marital status is important for women in India in view of the social situation and it would make no difference to him who claimed to have become a "Sadhu".

A bench of Justices U U Lalit and S Ravindra Bhat rejected a contention by the counsel of the husband, who contended his client has become a “Sadhu”, and he cannot get back into the marital relationship with the wife. “If you have renounced the world, you have renounced everything, right? We will set aside the divorce decree. To you, it will make no difference,” the bench said.

Advocate Purushotam Sharma Tripathi, representing the wife, submitted that the HC had specifically noted that the husband had not suffered any cruelty and she had not left her in-laws’ place on her own.

He further argued that the HC should not have passed the decree for dissolution of marriage on the ground of desertion.

The bench noted that the couple has been living separately for over a decade now, and it might be impossible for them to live together again. However, it said, against the backdrop of the way society treats women, the concept of marriage and marital status is quite important. “There’s a lot of importance to marriage for women,” it said.

The husband’s counsel informed the bench that his client had already paid Rs 5 lakh to the wife as per the HC’s direction.

Justice Lalit said, “Let her enjoy that as some kind of ex gratia payment. She has not made any other demands”.

The SC was told that the HC allowed the divorce under the irretrievable breakdown theory of marriage, as the parties were living separately. The husband’s counsel proposed mediation between the parties. However, the SC did not entertain this submission. The bench said it cannot force the parties, but “let her have the status of being a married woman”.