RAJAKUMARI Vs. NIL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners are husband and wife, their marriage having been solemnized on 3/2/2025. The petitioners citing incompatibility and irreconcilable differences and also that the marriage has not been consummated and that they are living separately from 4/4/2025, have approached the Family Court, Chennai seeking dissolution of marriage by mutual consent under Sec. 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (in short 'Act').

(2.) The petitioners also moved an Application seeking waiver of the mandatory one year period under Sec. 14 of the Act. The said Application has been returned as not maintainable. The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner Mrs.Sumathi Lokesh, would submit that despite the Court bringing to notice of this Court that the Hon'ble Supreme Court has upheld the discretion of the Courts to waive the waiting period in Shilpa Sailesh vs Varun Sreenivasan, reported in 2023 (14) SCC 231; Amardeep Singh v. Harveen Kaur, reported in 2017 (8) SCC 746 and the order of this Court in Shivkarthik.G.S and M.S.Swetha Pierce's case, in CRP. No.4013 of 2025, dtd. 4/9/2025, the application for waiver has been mechanically rejected without even affording a hearing to the petitioners. The said order of return dtd. 24/10/2025 is under the challenge in the present revision petition.

(3.) In Shivkarthik's case (referred herein supra), the petitioners who were Indian Christians and bound by the Indian Divorce Act, had sought for mutual consent divorce by invoking Sec. 10A of the Indian Divorce Act. The Family Court returned the petition stating that the petition could not be filed within two years from the date of separation. In fact, in the said case, the separation was only from 1/1/2025 and the OP was filed on 16/4/2025. I had relied on the decision of the Kerala High Court in Anup Disalva and Another vs. Union of India, reported in 2022 SCC Online Ker 6415, where the Hon'ble Division Bench of the Kerala High Court, in fact struck down the requirement of the mandatory waiting period as being unconstitutional and violative of fundamental rights. I have also relied on the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, in Shilpa Sailesh's case (referred herein supra), where the Hon'ble Supreme Court held that the Courts have a discretion to waive the mandatory six months period under Sec. 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, upon circumstances shown to the satisfaction of the Court.