LI Network
Published on: October 31, 2023 at 15:19 IST
In a significant decision, a Delhi Family Court judge, Harish Kumar, presiding at the Patiala House Courts, has advocated the necessity of mandatory prenuptial agreements for couples entering into marriage to prevent law-induced mental cruelty.
The judgment came while granting a no-fault divorce to a couple entangled in legal battles for seven years.
The court emphasized that it is time to make prenuptial agreements compulsory. These agreements should be executed before an appointed authority, following counseling of the parties to inform them about the potential risks of marital disputes.
Furthermore, it should be mandatory to report any breaches of the agreement to the party allegedly at fault. The court underlined that failure to report a breach would result in the breaching party not having a valid claim later on.
Notably, the court granted divorce without determining which party was at fault for the breakdown of the marital relationship. Instead, it inferred that both spouses desired the divorce as they had leveled allegations against each other while seeking a divorce.
In this specific case, the court utilized Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, to dissolve the marriage without investigating who was at fault. The court considered the respective prayers of the husband and wife for dissolution of their marriage based on each other’s faults as their mutual consent to end the marriage.
The court observed that there has been a significant increase in matrimonial cases recently, and most of them do not involve actual cruelty. When one party decides to leave the marriage for any reason, they have no option but to approach the court and make allegations against the other party.
These allegations often escalate into counter-allegations, placing a heavy burden on the judicial system to address issues that may not have existed in the first place.
The court pointed out that until society and the legislature collectively work towards resolving such issues, the justice system will continue to grapple with this complex situation.
In the case before the court, the couple got married in 2011 and had a daughter. While both parties sought a divorce, they couldn’t agree on various issues, making mutual consent impossible. Judge Kumar considered the acrimonious discord and grave allegations leveled by the spouses, leading to the conclusion that it would be cruel not to dissolve the marriage.
The court stressed that refusing to grant a divorce in such cases would force the parties to suffer further, regardless of who is at fault, and would amount to law-induced mental cruelty.
Despite the potential criticism of its decision, the court emphasized that the interest of the state and society lies in resolving conflicts, especially within families, to bring a settlement to disputes. The Family Court Act’s spirit aims to reconcile differences between parties, reducing the agony and harassment of prolonged litigation.
Regarding child custody, the court appointed both parents as legal guardians for school, academic, and extracurricular purposes.
The mother was directed to add the father’s name to the daughter’s school records. Given that both parents live in the same Gurugram society, the court granted the father regular daily access and weekend overnight access to their daughter. On the issue of maintenance, the court ordered both parents to share 50% of the daughter’s reasonable expenses.
This ruling by the Delhi Family Court emphasizes the need for mandatory prenuptial agreements to alleviate the burden on the legal system and prevent law-induced mental cruelty in divorce cases.