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The High Court noted that the couple had been separated since 2003 and that their marital ties were beyond repair.
Concluding that nothing would be achieved by keeping the couple legally bound after 22 years of separation, the High Court dissolved the marriage solemnised in May 1998.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court recently dissolved a 1998 marriage observing that refusing divorce in cases of complete marital breakdown only traps parties in misery and prevents them from moving forward in life.
A bench of Justice Vishal Dhagat and Justice Ramkumar Choubey allowed the husband Dilip Kumar’s appeal against a 2006 judgment of a Tikamgarh court, which had dismissed his petition for divorce from his wife Chetna.
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The High Court noted that the couple had been separated since 2003 and that their marital ties were beyond repair.
Dilip Kumar had approached the trial court seeking divorce under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, citing cruelty and alleging that his wife was suffering from mental illness concealed at the time of marriage. He claimed she exhibited erratic behaviour, was cruel towards their child and his mother, and posed a risk to the family. He also stated that she had undergone psychiatric treatment in Delhi, Lalitpur and Ghaziabad.
The trial court, however, dismissed the plea, holding that the husband had not proved incurable mental disorder or cruelty severe enough to justify divorce. Chetna had in turn accused Dilip Kumar and his family of dowry harassment and of demanding Rs. 2 lakhs, which she said led to her father’s death by heart attack in 2000.
Despite contesting the case earlier, Chetna stopped appearing before the High Court during the appeal proceedings. Notices were served but she chose not to pursue the matter further, leading to an ex parte hearing.
The bench referred to Supreme Court precedents such as Naveen Kohli v. Neelu Kohli and Ashok Hurra v. Rupa Bipin Zaveri, which recognised that marriages broken beyond repair should not be legally sustained merely for the sake of procedure. The court underlined that while irretrievable breakdown of marriage is not expressly a statutory ground under the Hindu Marriage Act, inherent powers under the Code of Civil and Criminal Procedure allow courts to prevent injustice.
“When there is complete breakdown of marriage and impossibility of resumption of married life between the parties, the court cannot close its eyes to reality,” the bench observed. It added that refusing divorce in such circumstances forces couples to remain stuck at one stage of life, denying them peace and happiness, and sometimes even encouraging one spouse to take a sadistic approach in prolonging the other’s suffering.
Concluding that nothing would be achieved by keeping the couple legally bound after 22 years of separation, the High Court dissolved the marriage solemnised in May 1998.
About the Author
Salil Tiwari, Senior Special Correspondent at Lawbeat, reports on the Allahabad High Court and courts in Uttar Pradesh, however, she also writes on important cases of national importance and public interests fr…Read More
Salil Tiwari, Senior Special Correspondent at Lawbeat, reports on the Allahabad High Court and courts in Uttar Pradesh, however, she also writes on important cases of national importance and public interests fr… Read More
September 10, 2025, 16:33 IST
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