Supreme Court Permits Instant Divorce

For the unversed, there’s a waiting period of 6 months for married couples that intend to get divorced. Their divorce case will be heard by the court only after this 6 months buffer period. Cut to now, the Supreme Court has passed a new order, saying it can dissolve marriages instantly henceforth.

A constitution bench, on Monday, ruled that the Supreme Court can dissolve a marriage instantly, without the customary 6 months buffer period.

This will come to effect if the court feels irretrievable damage has been done to the couple and they mutually agree to part ways. In this case, the Supreme Court can dissolve the marriage without any further waiting period.

This comes under a special power granted to the court under Article 142 of the Constitution. The court termed this as an order that is necessary to do complete justice to the consenting parties.

The case to permit this particular order came in front of the court back in 2016. After the hearings, the court reserved the judgment on September 29, 2022. The final order was passed today by a five-judge bench.