Topic
The Hindu Marriage Act governs marriage, divorce, and related remedies for Hindus in India, including maintenance, jurisdiction, and grounds like cruelty.
A never-consummated marriage with 84 days’ separation and a MOU settlement showing no reconciliation amounts to exceptional hardship, permitting waiver of the one-year period under HMA Sec 14(1) for an immediate divorce petition, as held by Delhi HC.
Unchallenged WhatsApp messages alone can prove mental cruelty under HMA Sec 13(1)(i-a), the Chhattisgarh HC ruled, overturning the Family Court’s denial of divorce. The decision confirms that uncontested electronic evidence suffices for matrimonial relief, impacting spouses seeking divorce on cruelty grounds.
Baseless superior-level complaints shift the burden of proof and render cohabitation impossible, affecting service personnel and their families.
The Delhi HC ruled that "last resided together" under Section 19(iii) HMA means the final joint residence - a four-year Gurugram stay displacing an earlier 18-month Delhi residence. The divorce petition was rightly returned for want of jurisdiction, and the appeal dismissed on maintainability (wrong respondent) and merits.
Patna High Court affirmed the divorce on mental cruelty, upheld the decree and recalibrated the wife’s maintenance, granting permanent alimony that includes a parcel of land. The judgment stresses assessing the husband’s income and using cumulative evidence, guiding future cruelty-based divorce petitions.
A divorce settlement clause that the husband ‘will have to give’ a flat imposes a binding duty to transfer ownership, not just a right to reside. The Delhi High Court set aside the Family Court’s dismissal, holding that such clauses are enforceable as property transfers, enabling spouses to compel title conveyance.
The Supreme Court ruled that Provident Fund and ESPP contributions cannot be treated as compulsory deductions when determining net income for maintenance under HMA Sections 24 and 26. The Court enhanced monthly child maintenance to Rs.1.25 lakh and granted the wife Rs.30,000 for cancer treatment, ordering compliance within three months.
The Jharkhand High Court set permanent alimony at Rs 50,000 monthly, with a 5% biennial rise and a Rs 30 lakh lump-sum award. The ruling raises the benchmark for Section 25 Hindu Marriage Act maintenance, affecting future alimony determinations for spouses in Jharkhand.
The Jharkhand High Court ruled that a husband’s loan repayments cannot be offset against his permanent alimony liability, fixing Rs 40 lakh for the wife and Rs 25 lakh each for the children based on his income. This clarifies that alimony under Section 25 is calculated on earning capacity, not debt servicing, affecting spouses seeking maintenance in Jharkhand.
Kerala High Court ruled that baseless extramarital allegations and a spouse's attempted suicide constitute mental cruelty under Hindu Marriage Act. The judgment allows a divorce petition, emphasizing the spouse's conduct as sufficient grounds for dissolution.
Supreme Court rules that a lump-sum payment under a family settlement (Clause 10) extinguishes interim income-linked maintenance (Clause 9), affirming concurrent findings of the Family Court and High Court. The ruling clarifies the hierarchy of settlement terms over prior maintenance obligations, impacting parties bound by mutual consent decrees.
Supreme Court rules that a lump sum payment under a family settlement (Clause 10) discharges interim income-linked maintenance (Clause 9), barring further claims. The ruling clarifies how settlement terms override statutory maintenance obligations in mutual divorce cases.
Allahabad HC ruled that the statutory six-month cooling period under Section 13-B(2) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, cannot be waived, but once elapsed, the Family Court must proceed with the mutual divorce petition. The ruling clarifies that waiver rejections become infructuous post-cooling period, directing expeditious disposal of pending petitions.
Allahabad High Court dismisses habeas corpus petition, holding marriage within prohibited degrees under Hindu law is void and corpus is free to reside with father.
The Karnataka High Court has imposed ₹10,000 costs on a husband for filing a delayed amendment to his divorce petition, four years after the case began, emphasizing that procedural delays cannot be compensated by substantive relief alone. This ruling reinforces judicial discipline in matrimonial litigation and warns against tactical use of amendment provisions to reframe allegations at a late stage.