V K GUPTA Vs. NIRMALA GUPTA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Upon hearing counsel, the court passed the following order: la. This matrimonial litigation, where a husband (the petitioner) an successfully tried to get a decree for divorce of his wife (the respondent) under S. 13 (l) (b) of the Hindu Marriage Act, has landed in this court as and petition for special leave to appeal. Customary accusations on both sides were made in the pleadings and evidence, but the High court (both the Single Judgeand the division bench) did not grant dissolution of marriage. When we heard counsel on both sides on a preliminary basis we impressed upon them the benign perspective which the court must bring to bear upon a matrimonial cause. It is fundamental that reconciliation of a ruptured marriage is the first essay of the judge, aided by counsel in this noble adventure. The sanctity of marriage is, in essence, the foundation of civil Isetan and, therefore, court and counsel owe a duty to society to strain to the utmost to repair the snapped relations between the parties. This task becomes more insistent when an innocent offspring of the wedding struggles in between the disputed parents. In the present case, there is a child, quite young, the marriage itself being young.

(2.) We have had the advantage of responsive counsel on both sides who shared the spirit of our suggestion, worked on the minds of their clients and healed a wounded situation into a healthy rapprochement. What is equally noteworthy is the circumstance that the parties themselves reacted sensitively and constrictively. Naturally, there was initial resistance, mistrust, apprehension and, therefore, a string of conditions in arriving at a consensus between the parties. At the end of this conciliatory journey, it was possible to reach a happy destination resulting in the resolution of the conflict between the parties and eventual restoration of the conjugal home.

(3.) Today, counsel on both sides put in statements which we are recording in the proceedings. In substance, both husband and wife are basically agreed upon living together with the ardor and love of partners in life. The minor frictions which got distorted into disruption was really the wear and tear of wedded fabric. We are able to discern in the two statements a sincere wish to come together and enjoy the conjugal bliss which is their right. We further notice a concern on both sides for the little, lovely child whose future is largely molded by the sweetness and survival of the wedlock.