Appeal From Any Order Passed By Family Court With Consent Of Parties Not Maintainable: Jharkhand High Court

The Jharkhand High Court recently held that Section 19(2) of the Family Courts Act, 1984 is akin to the provision under Section 96(3) of the Code of Civil Procedure which bars appeal from a decree passed with the consent of parties.

It added that this bar operates with further expansion under Section 19(2), in as much as, no appeal shall also lie from "any order" passed by the Family Court with the consent of the parties.

The matter was being heard by a Division Bench of Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Ratnaker Bhengra, which dismissed the first appeal as not maintainable.

The first appeal was filed by the wife, aggrieved by the divorce decree awarded under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, on the ground that she was threatened to sign the said petition for a decree of dissolution of marriage by mutual consent.

As per the original suit, it was recorded that a petition for divorce by mutual consent was filed with the signature of both parties. Based on the petition, the Family Court Judge had recorded that to ensure free consent of both the parties, the statement of both the parties was recorded, and their signatures were put thereon.

Advocate Rakhi Sharma, appearing for the respondent, objected to the maintainability of the First Appeal under Section 19(2) of the Family Courts Act, 1984, where an appeal from a decree or order passed by the Family Court with the consent of the parties is barred.

It referred to the case of Pushpa Devi Bhagat v. Rajendra Singh, where the Supreme Court, after referring to section 96 of the Code of Civil Procedure and proviso to Order XXIII Rule 3 and Rule 3-A of the Code of Civil Procedure held that the only remedy available to a party to a consent decree to avoid such consent decree is to approach the Court which recorded the compromise and made a decree in terms of it.

Accordingly, the High Court observed,

"...the provision under sub-section (2) to section 19 of the Family Courts Act, 1984 is akin to the provision under sub-section(3) to section 96 of the Code of Civil Procedure, with further expansion of bar under sub-section (2) to section 19, inasmuch as, no appeal shall lie also from "any order" passed by the learned Family Court with the consent of the parties."

Case Title: Priyanka Devi v. Satish Kumar

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Jha) 20

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