The Supreme Court, led by a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, issued a ruling on Monday that it can utilize its authority under Article 142 of the Constitution to grant a divorce decree based on the grounds of "irretrievable breakdown of marriage." This decision was made in response to petitions that raised concerns about the use of plenary powers by the Supreme Court to dissolve a marriage between consenting parties without referral to family courts and without waiting for the mandatory six-month period prescribed under Section 13-B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
In the recent ruling, the five-judge Constitution Bench held that the Supreme Court possesses the authority, as per Article 142 of the Constitution, to issue decrees and orders that are deemed essential for "doing complete justice" in any matter or cause presented before it. In this case, the Bench held that the mandatory waiting period of six months for divorce by mutual consent under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, can be waived. In 2016, a division Bench led by Justice Shiva Kirti Singh referred the matter to the five-judge Constitution Bench.
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