Separation Alone Not Enough To Grant Divorce: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court was hearing an appeal arising from a husband’s divorce petition in which the Uttarakhand High Court had granted divorce under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. 

The Court noted that the High Court accepted the husband’s claim of cruelty without examining the wife’s plea that she was thrown out of the matrimonial home and forced to live separately.

It observed that merely living apart does not establish desertion or irretrievable breakdown, and courts must determine who is responsible for the separation after analysing the evidence, especially where a child is involved.

The matter was remitted for fresh consideration. 

[A v. I]