A matrimonial settlement may support dissolution of marriage by mutual consent in appeal.

The wife appealed the Family Court’s decree granting the husband a divorce on the ground of cruelty under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

In a connected appeal, she challenged dismissal of her petition for restitution of conjugal rights under Section 9 of that Act.

During the appeals, the parties reached a settlement and filed a joint memo.

The husband paid the wife ₹20,00,000 by demand draft in court.

The settlement also provided for the child’s permanent custody with the mother and visitation for the father, and contemplated resolution of other matrimonial proceedings.

1. Whether the appeals should be disposed of in accordance with the parties’ settlement, including by setting aside the Family Court’s decrees.

2. Whether the marriage should be dissolved by mutual consent and the agreed arrangements recorded.

The appeals were brought under Section 19(1) of the Family Courts Act, 1984; the underlying Family Court proceedings concerned Sections 13(1)(ia) and 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

Its stated basis for disposing of them was the parties’ amicable settlement, confirmed voluntarily in court, and the court’s acceptance of the joint memo.

The parties appeared before the Court and confirmed that they had read and understood the settlement and entered it freely.

The Court also recorded that the husband had handed over the agreed ₹20,00,000 demand draft to the wife during the proceedings.

In light of the settlement, which addressed the parties’ financial claims and the child’s custody and visitation, the Court set aside the Family Court’s judgment and decree and dissolved the marriage by mutual consent.

The settlement contemplated steps to end other proceedings in accordance with law; the order does not itself dispose of those separately pending cases.

It directed the Registry to draw the decree accordingly and disposed of any pending interlocutory applications.