AYASHA CHOUHAN Vs. WASEEM KHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Appeal herein is directed against a judgment dtd. 3/4/2025 (Annexure-3) rendered by learned Family Court, Merta. Vide impugned judgment the learned Family Judge in exercise of jurisdiction under Sec. 7 of the Family Courts Act, 1984, dismissed the Civil Suit filed by appellant wife seeking declaration that her marriage stands dissolved under Sec. 2 of Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939.

(2.) At the outset, to invoke the old adage in converse, instant case is one where "miya biwi raazi, nahi maan rahaa qazi". It transpires that both parties were/are unequivocally agreeable to dissolution of marriage and had consciously tendered their consent before the learned Trial Judge. Yet, the marriage was not dissolved. The learned Family Court evidently was persuaded with the principle that considerations of public interest must prevail over private consent. What appears to have also weighed with the learned Judge is that consent of parties, by itself, cannot sanctify an illegality.

(3.) No doubt, the legal position admits of no ambiguity i.e. even where parties are ad idem, the Court is duty-bound to subject the arrangement to the touchstone of legality. Mere consensus between litigating parties cannot clothe an otherwise impermissible act with legitimacy, nor can it denude the Court of its statutory jurisdiction to examine the matter independently. More of it later.