Matrimonial Disputes & Family Law

In a significant decision in 2018, the Supreme Court of India decriminalized adultery, striking it off from the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The judgment was delivered by a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra, and included former CJI D. Y. Chandrachud and Justices A. M. Khanwilkar, R. F. Nariman, and Indu Malhotra. The case, Joseph Shine v. Union of India, began in 2017 when a non-resident Indian from Kerala filed a Public Interest

Live-in relationships, once considered unconventional in India, have gradually gained legal recognition through progressive judicial interpretation. Over the years, the Supreme Court has affirmed that such arrangements are not illegal and deserve protection under the right to life and personal liberty guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution. The Groundbreaking Case: S. Khushboo vs. Kanniammal & Anr. (2010) In this landmark judgment delivered on April 28, 2010, the Suprem

In this landmark ruling, the Supreme Court held that the six-month cooling-off period prescribed under Section 13B(2) of the Hindu Marriage Act is not mandatory and can be waived by the court. This decision aims to speed up the process of mutual consent divorce when both parties are certain about ending their marriage and have resolved all pending issues such as alimony, child custody, and property division. The Court emphasized that the provision was meant to prevent hasty

The Supreme Court, in a judgment passed by Justices Indira Banerjee and J. K. Maheshwari on December 11, 2021, stated that it has the power to make an exception to the 6-month waiting period usually required for divorce by mutual consent under Hindu law. In the case of Amit Kumar v. Suman Beniwal, the court said that under Article 142 of the Constitution, which allows the Supreme Court to pass any order necessary to do complete justice, it can waive the 6-month "cooling off"