[S.13B HMA] Inconvenience Of Parties To Appear Before Court Not Ground To Waive Off Cooling Period For Mutual Divorce: MP High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has held that inconvenience of parties to appear before the Court cannot be a ground to waive off the six-month statutory cooling-off period prescribed under Section 13-B(2) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (HMA), before grant of divorce by mutual consent.

The petitioner sought dissolution of his marriage through mutual consent and submitted that since both the parties are required to stay out of station in connection with their work, therefore they are facing difficulty in attending the case.

The bench of Justice G.S. Ahluwalia held, “inconvenience of the parties to appear before the Court cannot be a ground to waive off the cooling period. The basic purpose of making a provision for cooling period is to think over the decision of getting separated.”

The petitioners had requested the Family Court in Jabalpur to waive the six-month waiting period between the first and second motions of the divorce application. The trial court, however, declined the request, citing a lack of sufficient grounds. Dissatisfied with this decision, the petitioner approached the High Court under Article 227 of the Constitution.

Reliance was placed on Amardeep Singh vs. Harveen Kaur (2017), where Supreme Court held that the six-month cooling-off period prescribed under Section 13-B(2) of the HMA is not mandatory, but merely directory.

The petitioner's counsel argued that since both parties had been living separately since 2017 and had resolved all pending issues, including alimony and custody, the statutory period should be waived.

Justice Ahluwalia, rejected the petition, emphasizing that the conditions for waiving the cooling-off period had not been met, which involve- all mediation and conciliation efforts must have failed; the parties must have genuinely resolved all issues, including alimony and child custody; the waiting period must only prolong the agony of the parties; and the parties must have decided to move ahead in their lives.

Case Title: Sushant Kumar Sahu Versus Smt Mohini Sahu

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (MP) 210

Case no. MISCELLANEOUS PETITION No. 4933 of 2024

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