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P&H HC | Cooling off period under S. 13-B (2) HMA directory and not mandatory, court must waive off statutory period where marriage is irreconcilable  

Punjab and Haryana High Court

Punjab and Haryana High Court

Punjab and Haryana High Court: Rajbir Sehrawat, J., allowed the instant revision petition, filed against the order of Family Court, where the joint application for waving off the statutory period of 6 months for cooling off, had been dismissed.

It was the case of the petitioner that the marriage was irreconcilable even after all the efforts by the said parties. However, the parties agreed to dissolve their marriage by mutual consent. A joint petition was filed before the trial Court under Section 13-B of Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The Trial Court concluded that all the efforts to reconcile have failed, however, directed cooling off period of 6 months till final adjudication.

Parties sought waiver off the said direction, the same was rejected by the trial Court stating that ‘petitioner has not made any efforts towards reconciliation’. It was contended by the petitioner that all the conditions have been fulfilled and the trial court should have allowed the waiver.

The Court observed that the parties were living separately for 2 years hence; it was obvious that marriage had gone beyond redemption. It was also observed that the condition laid down in Amardeep Singh v. Harveen Kaur, (2017) 8 SCC 746, was fulfilled.

The Court held, “There would not be any justification in forcing the parties to continue the marriage, when they have already decided to get apart after having made every possible effort to settle their dispute. Hence, the Court below should have waived off the statutory period of six months as per the prayer made by the petitioners.” Order of trial Court was set aside.

[Parul Madaan v. Gaurav Indora, C.R. No. 430 of 2022, decided on 09-03-2022]


Appearance:

Ms Mannu Chaudhary, for the petitioner.


Aastha Sharma, Editorial Assistant has reported this brief.

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