Patna High Court Sets Aside Divorce Decree, Orders DNA Test to Resolve Disputed Paternity of Child

The parties were married on 12 June 2011 according to Hindu rites and customs.

The husband alleged that the wife subjected him and his family to cruelty, refused cohabitation, and left the matrimonial home on 5 August 2011 with her belongings.

He further alleged that, in 2014, the wife returned to his paternal home with a female child and claimed that the child was born during the marriage; the husband denied being the child’s biological father.

The wife denied the allegations, asserted that she had been harassed for dowry, and stated that the child was born from the wedlock in 2012.

The husband instituted Matrimonial Divorce Case No. 53 of 2015 seeking dissolution of marriage on the ground of cruelty under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

The Family Court decreed the suit on the ground of cruelty on 13 October 2023. The wife appealed.

Before the High Court, the parties agreed to undergo DNA testing to determine the biological parentage of the child.

Whether the husband was entitled to a decree of divorce on the grounds of cruelty and desertion under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

Whether the disputed parentage of the child required determination through DNA testing before deciding the matrimonial dispute afresh.

Whether the judgment and decree of the Family Court could be sustained in the absence of a determination of the disputed parentage issue.

The Court applied Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, under which a marriage may be dissolved where one spouse has treated the other with cruelty.

The trial court had also framed an issue concerning entitlement to divorce on the grounds of cruelty and desertion.

The Court proceeded on the principle that a material and disputed factual issue—particularly the biological parentage of a child whose birth was relied upon by both parties in support of their respective cases—must be properly investigated before a final matrimonial adjudication.

Since both parties consented to DNA testing, the Court directed that the test be conducted and that the Family Court reconsider the case on the basis of the DNA report and the evidence already on record.

The High Court found a significant factual dispute concerning the child’s parentage.

The marriage took place on 12 June 2011, while the wife allegedly left the matrimonial home on 5 August 2011; nevertheless, she asserted that the child was born in 2012 from the marital relationship.

The Court also noted that the husband had not stated in his evidence that the marriage was never consummated, although such a contention appeared in the plaint.

Because the disputed parentage could materially affect the assessment of the parties’ allegations and the claim of cruelty, and because both parties agreed to submit to DNA testing, the High Court held that the matter required reconsideration after scientific determination of the issue.

It therefore did not finally decide whether cruelty or desertion had been established.

The judgment and decree dated 13 October 2023 in Matrimonial Divorce Case No. 53 of 2015 were set aside.

The matter was remanded to the Principal Judge, Family Court, Muzaffarpur, with directions to conduct DNA testing of the child, the mother, and the alleged father, and thereafter to decide the case afresh on the basis of the DNA report and the evidence on record.

The parties were directed to produce themselves and the minor child before the Family Court within three weeks, and the entire exercise was to be completed within three months.