Kochi: In a landmark verdict, the Kerala High Court canceled Section 10A of the Divorce Act, 1869. The Act mandated that the husband and wife must have lived separately for at least one year before filing for divorce by mutual consent. This law has been considered by the court as a violation of fundamental rights and this section has been called unconstitutional. Along with this, while canceling this provision for Christians, the court said that the Central Government should seriously consider the Same Marriage Code in India.
The Kerala High Court said that if the husband and wife do not get along and want to divorce by mutual consent, they should not be required to live separately for a year. The court on Friday (December 8) observed that the 'fixation of minimum period of separation of one year or more for filing a divorce petition by mutual consent under Section 10A of the Indian Divorce Act, 1869 violates the fundamental rights.' And it is completely unconstitutional.
In this case, the court canceled the condition of the couple living separately for one year. A division bench of Justice A Muhammad Mustaque and Justice Shoba Annamma Eapen observed that 'the mandatory waiting period affects the right to liberty of citizens, in this case, Christian citizens to whom the Indian Divorce Act applies.' The court further said, 'We are of the firm view that when the freedom to act as per one's wish is taken away, without any process to secure the consequences of such restrictions, the law would become repressive.'
Let us tell you that the Kerala High Court has given this decision while hearing the petition of a young Christian couple. The couple got married earlier this year according to Christian rituals. In this case, the age of the husband is 30 years and the age of the wife is 28 years. The couple says they believe their marriage was a mistake. They went to a family court only after four months of marriage, where the court refused to hear the case. The family court refused to hear the divorce petition citing the one-year separation rule. After this, the couple went to the High Court and sought to repeal the one-year separation rule for divorce.
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