Couple Living Apart For 25 Years Seek Divorce. What Supreme Court Said
NDTV
The Supreme Court said the "complete severance of all meaningful ties and existing bitterness between the two" should be read as "cruelty" under the Hindu Marriage Act
The Supreme Court has dissolved the marriage of a couple who have been staying separately for 25 years, saying recognising them as married would be "sanctioning cruelty". The couple only lived together for four years.
A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and JB Pardiwala said the "complete severance of all meaningful ties and existing bitterness between the two" should be read as "cruelty" under the Hindu Marriage Act.
"We have before us a married couple who have been together as a couple for hardly four years and have been living separately for the last 25 years. They don't have children and their marital bond is completely broke, beyond repair," the Supreme Court said.
"We have no doubt that this relationship must end because its continuation would be to sanction cruelty. Prolonged separation, absence of cohabitation, complete severance of all meaningful ties and existing bitterness between the two should be read as cruelty under the Hindu Marriage Act," the Supreme Court said.