Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage and Role of Supreme Court

Irretrievable Breakdown of Marriage and Role of Supreme Court

Shilpa Sailesh v. Varun Sreenivasan [2023] GCtR 896 (SC) has answered the issue. This explains manner of exercise of power under A.142 of Constitution of India and also deals with various other issues in which Supreme Court deals with matrimonial matters.

This is also a 5-Judges' Bench Decision. All 5 Judges were unanimous and Hon'ble J. Sanjiv Khanna wrote the opinion. 

Supreme Court Court, in exercise of power under Article 142(1) of the Constitution of India, has the discretion to dissolve the marriage on the ground of its irretrievable breakdown. This discretionary power is to be exercised to do ‘complete justice’ to the parties, wherein Supreme Court is satisfied that the facts established show that the marriage has completely failed and there is no possibility that the parties will cohabit together, and continuation of the formal legal relationship is unjustified. The Court, as a court of equity, is required to also balance the circumstances and the background in which the party opposing the dissolution is placed.

Article 142(1) of the Constitution of India turns the maxim ‘equity follows the law’ on its head, as this Article in the Constitution of India gives legal authority to Supreme Court to give precedence to equity over law. This power, like all powers under the Constitution of India, must be contained and regulated, as it has been held that relief based on equity should not disregard the substantive mandate of law based on underlying fundamental general and specific issues of public policy

Supreme Court, in view of settlement between the parties, has the discretion to dissolve the marriage by passing a decree of divorce by mutual consent, without being bound by the procedural requirement to move the second motion. 

A party cannot file a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India and seek relief of dissolution of marriage directly from Supreme Court. 

Supreme Court can depart from the procedure as well as the substantive laws, as long as the decision is exercised based on considerations of fundamental general and specific public policy.