After 8 Years Apart, Chhattisgarh HC Grants Couple Mutual-Consent Divorce, Waiving Six-Month Wait

The parties married on 14 April 2017 and had one son.

After matrimonial disputes, they began living separately in April 2018.

The husband’s petition for divorce under Section 13(1) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 was dismissed by the Family Court on 20 December 2023, and he appealed.

During the appeal, the parties reached a mediated settlement on 13 October 2026 and jointly sought divorce by mutual consent under Section 13-B.

Their settlement addressed the son’s custody, care, education, and contact with the wife, as well as their financial and other matrimonial claims.

Both parties confirmed before the Registrar (Judicial) that their consent was voluntary and continuing.

Section 19(1) of the Family Courts Act, 1984 provides for an appeal from a Family Court decree, while Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 enables spouses living separately to seek divorce by mutual consent.

Under Amardeep Singh v. Harveen Kaur, (2017) 8 SCC 746, the six-month period in Section 13-B(2) is directory and may be waived where the parties have lived separately for the requisite period before the first motion, reconciliation efforts have failed, their disputes—including alimony and child custody—have been genuinely settled, and waiting would only prolong their agony.

The Court also relied on decisions recognising waiver of the cooling-off period and conversion of a contested divorce proceeding into a mutual-consent proceeding at the appellate stage.

The parties had lived separately for more than eight years, reconciliation efforts had failed, and mediation had produced a settlement addressing their matrimonial claims and arrangements for their son.

Their statements before the Registrar confirmed that they understood and freely accepted the settlement and continued to consent to dissolution.

Applying Amardeep Singh, the Court concluded that the statutory waiting period would serve no useful purpose and that requiring fresh proceedings would unnecessarily prolong the parties’ distress.

It set aside the Family Court’s judgment and decree dated 20 December 2023, dissolved the marriage by mutual consent, and directed that the mediation settlement form part of the decree and bind both parties.

The appeal was disposed of, with each party bearing their own costs.