The Madras High Court on Wednesday ruled that a court cannot deny a married couple a divorce or insist to know the reason behind the legal separation, if the couple claims the divorce with mutual consent.
Noting that a court could not act like a fact-finding authority, the Times of India quoted the bench as saying “In case the marriage is a failure and the parties want to put an end to the marital bond, the court should respect the sentiments and grant divorce. It is not the intention of the legislature to deny divorce inspite of the parties taking a conscious decision to part ways."
The report adds:
The only reason assigned by the family court to dismiss the petition is that the parties have not assigned any reason for not being able to live together, the bench said, adding: “Whatever may be the reason, psychological or otherwise, it stands established that the parties have not been able to live together, and have been living separately from July 18, 2014 onwards. The parties have mutually agreed that their marriage should be dissolved...it is not possible to throw out the joint petition against the wishes of the parties.“