Couple allowed to part ways as friends

SC waives cool off period

The Supreme Court has waived off a mandatory cooling off period of six months to grant divorce to a young couple, who decided to part ways after having developed differences within three months of their love marriage.

“Both the husband and wife are present before us. They are well-educated. We had a long interaction with them. We are convinced that they have taken a conscious decision to part as friends,” a bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and Sanjay Kishan Kaul said.

In the present case, the man from Delhi, who worked as a photographer and the girl, from Anand in Gujarat, who worked in an online media company, developed friendship and later tied the nuptial knot on March 11, 2016.

They got their marriage registered in Delhi. But within three months, the girl left her matrimonial home.

While the man filed a divorce petition in a Delhi court, the girl, for her part, filed a police complaint in Anand, claiming dowry harassment, and initiated proceedings under the Domestic Violence Act separately.

On her application to transfer the divorce case to Anand, the top court persuaded the couple to resolve their issues through mediation.

The man, represented by advocate Dushyant Parashar, agreed to make payment of Rs 12.50 lakh to the girl as a full and final settlement. The woman also agreed to withdraw all allegations and complaints.

Using its extra-ordinary power under Article 142 of the Constitution, the bench said there is no point in requiring the parties to wait for another six months.

The court also quashed all pending cases among them. “Both the parties have entered into amicable settlement, accordingly, the period between the first motion and second motion (for divorce) is waived,” the bench said.