Divorce Application Cannot Be Thrown Out Only Because Exact Date Of Marriage Is Not Mentioned: Rajasthan High Court

A bench comprising Justices Sandeep Mehta and Farzand Ali observed that if the Family Court suspects that the averments on the aspect of marriage are inconclusive, it can exercise powers under Section 165 of the Indian Evidence Act to put questions to the parties, so as to verify the truthfulness of the averments made in the application. 

Essentially, the instant misc. appeal was filed by the appellant assailing the judgment-cum-decree passed by the Family Court whereby the application preferred by the appellant and respondent under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act seeking decree of divorce by mutual consent was dismissed.

The Family court had observed that parties could not prove the factum of their marriage as per Hindu rites and rituals and thus, were not entitled to a decree of divorce. The Family Court had also said that the application was preferred with a motive to seek Government employment under the 'Divorcee category'.

While allowing the appeal as well as divorce between the parties by mutual consent, the High Court observed,

"Pertinent affidavits were filed by the appellant and the respondent in support of the pleadings of the divorce application that they were married to each other in the year 2007. Photographs of the marriage ceremony were also annexed with the divorce application. True it is that the exact date of marriage was not mentioned in the divorce application but for that reason alone, the divorce application could not have been thrown out."

It further opined that the observations made by the Family Court regarding government employment are absolutely unjustified and hypothetical.

The counsels for the parties urged that the Family Court was totally unjustified in rejecting the application with the observation that the very fact of their marriage was under a cloud of doubt. They urged that there was a specific averment of the parties in the divorce application that they were married by following the Hindu rites and rituals in the year 2007. They informed that the photographs of the marriage ceremony were also annexed with the application.

Case Title: Smt. Rekha Kumari v. Hemendra Choudhary @ Hemraj

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Raj) 219