Supreme Court Ruling on Decayed Marriages
The Supreme Court of India has ruled that courts must not permit litigation to prolong a marriage that has decayed and decomposed, describing such a union as a deeply personal and social partnership built on mutual respect. Allowing such marriages to continue would create a 'foul sociological, psychological and mental hollowness' in life, the court stated.
Use of Article 142 Powers
Exercising its exclusive powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court dissolved the marriage between two government doctors who had been living separately for 15 years. The bench emphasized that marriage, in its legal and constitutional dimension, cannot be reduced to a mere contractual intersection of individual rights, nor can it be viewed through the narrow lens of a petition for conjugal rights.
Nature of Marriage
A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and A G Masih observed that marriage is a personal and social partnership built on mutual respect, shared expectations, and equal responsibility. It is designed for a couple to weave a tapestry of interdependence that demands a balancing of interests. Writing for the court, Justice Masih stated, 'Conjugal rights do not exist in a vacuum; they are the structural counterparts to conjugal duties. Matrimony is not a one-sided right to be enforced, but a shared covenant of emotional support, fidelity, responsibility and care, where the rights of one are always tied to the duties they owe to the other.'
Facts of the Case
Referring to the specific case, the bench noted that the intentional maintenance of distinct lifestyles, separate domiciles, and total cessation of marital interaction for over 15 years established a de facto abandonment of the marital covenant by both parties. The court declared, 'When wife and husband have been living separately for over 15 years and all efforts for reconciliation have failed, it will not be possible for the parties to live together,' and dissolved the marriage under Article 142.
