T.P.(C) No. 1118/2014

SHILPA SAILESH VS VARUN SREENIVASAN

The Constitution Bench held that the Supreme Court can record the settlement between the parties and dissolve the marriage by passing a decree of divorce by mutual consent in exercise of power under Article 142 of the Constitution without being bound by the procedural requirement under the HMA. The Court also held that while exercising powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, the Court can quash and set aside other proceedings between the parties, including criminal proceedings.Furthermore, the Supreme Court held that under Article 142(1) of the Constitution, the Supreme Court could grant divorce if a marriage has irretrievably broken down, even if one party opposes the prayer for divorce. Finally, the Court clarified that parties could not approach the Supreme Court directly to dissolve the marriage under Article 142. Rather, parties would have to approach the Family Court as the court of first instance.The judgment of the Court was authored by Justice Sanjiv Khanna.