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REPORTABLE IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CIVIL APPEAL NO. 6161/2010

Raj Kumar Rana       ..Appellant

Versus

Rita Rathore      ..Respondent

J U D G M E N T

R. BANUMATHI, J.

This  appeal  arises  out  of   the  judgment  dated  

10.11.2008 passed by the High Court of Himachal Pradesh at  

Shimla in FAO (HMA) No.266/2004, dismissing the appellant’s  

appeal and declining to pass the decree of divorce.

2. Marriage  between  the  appellant-husband  and  

respondent-wife was solemnized on 10.5.1997 and both of  

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them resided together as husband and wife for about nine  

months.  Case  of  the  appellant  is  that  both  parties  were  

employed in District Hospital at different places.  Appellant  

was transferred to District Hospital, Solan, Himachal Pradesh  

and he started living at Solan.  By their joint efforts, they  

were able to get the respondent transferred to Solan. The  

respondent-wife  became  pregnant  and  she  went  to  her  

parents house at Nirsu in Rampur,  Himachal Pradesh.  Case  

of the appellant is  that in February 1998, respondent-wife  

left Solan for delivery at her parents house at Rampur and  

thereafter she never came back and never stayed with the  

appellant.  Parties are said to have separated since February  

1998  and  a  male  child  was  born  out  of  their  wedlock  at  

Rampur  on  2.6.1998.   Appellant  alleged  that  despite  his  

request, respondent continued to stay with her child at her  

parents  house  at  Nirsu  in  Rampur.   Inspite  of  being  

transferred to Solan, respondent refused to join the appellant  

at  Solan  and  instead  she  got  herself    adjusted  at  IGMC  

Shimla.  According  to  the  appellant-husband,  when  he  

requested  the  respondent-wife  to  part  ways  by  mutual  

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consent,  respondent  and  her  parents  demanded  

Rs.10,00,000/- as maintenance.  The appellant filed petition  

for  divorce  under  Section  13  of  the  Hindu  Marriage  Act  

against  the  respondent  on  the  ground  of  cruelty  and  

desertion.  Vide its judgment dated 2.1.2003, District Judge,  

Solan dismissed the petition both on grounds of cruelty and  

desertion.    Regarding desertion,  trial  court  observed that  

parties have strained relations for long time and are residing  

separately on account of exigencies of their services and not  

on account of hostilities and there was no animus deserendi  

on  the  part  of  the  respondent  in  living  separate.   The  

appellant preferred appeal before the High Court and vide its  

judgment dated 10.11.2008, the High Court dismissed the  

appeal.   In  this  appeal,  the  appellant  challenges  the  

correctness of the dismissal of his divorce petition.   

3. Vide  order  dated  25.6.2014,  while  referring  the  

parties  to  mediation,  this  Court  has  asked  the   appellant  

whether   he  will  be  willing  to  deposit   a  sum  of  

Rs.10,00,000/-  before  this  Court  by  way  of  permanent  

alimony as well as maintenance for the male child from the  3

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marriage.  Learned counsel for appellant/husband submitted  

that the sum of Rs.10,00,000/- will be deposited within six  

weeks  from  the  date  of  the  order.   As  per  the  order,  

commencement  of  mediation  was  made  conditional  on  

deposit of Rs.10,00,000/-.  In compliance with the direction  

of  this  Court,  the  appellant  has  deposited  a  sum  of  

Rs.10,00,000/-.   The parties were referred to the Mediation  

Centre at Shimla.  To enable the respondent-wife to travel to  

Shimla,  a  further  amount  of  Rs.25,000/-  was  paid  to  the  

respondent-wife by way of  demand draft.

4. Expressing  her  consent  for  divorce  and  stating  

that   the  amount  of  Rs.10,00,000/-  deposited  by  the  

appellant in this Court be paid to her as permanent alimony  

and also as maintenance of the minor son, the respondent  

has  filed   affidavit.   In  the  affidavit,  the  respondent  has  

stated as under:-

“It is most humbly submitted that in the interest of  my son and overall bringing an end to the disputes, I  am  agreeable  for  a  Divorce.   However  all  the  allegations/contentions raised in Divorce Petition and  the present Special Leave Petition are denied.  The  Appellant  has  made  bald  and  false  allegations  in  these Petitions.  In these circumstances, this Hon’ble  Court  may  protect  the  interest  of  the  Respondent  

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herein by recording that the Divorce is being granted  by mutual consent and accordingly pass appropriate  orders in the interest of justice.”

5. Pursuant to the affidavit filed by the respondent-

wife, taking into consideration that the relationship between  

the parties are strained for quite a long time, judgments of  

both  the  courts  below  are  set  aside  and  this  appeal  is  

allowed.  In order to render justice between the parties, in  

exercise of our power under Article 142 of the Constitution of  

India,  the  marriage  between  the  appellant  and  the  

respondent is dissolved by mutual consent.  The amount of  

Rs.10,00,000/- lying in this Court’s deposit be invested in the  

name  of minor son represented by the respondent in any  

one  of  the  Nationalized  Bank  as  per  the  choice  of  the  

respondent  till  he  attains  majority.   The  respondent  is  

permitted  to  withdraw  the  periodical  interest  accrued  

thereon once in a year directly from the bank and the same  

shall be utilized for the welfare of the minor son.  No costs.  

Copy of  this  judgment shall  be sent to  the District  Judge,  

Solan, H.P.

                               ……………………..J.           (V. Gopala Gowda)

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……………………..J           (R. Banumathi)

New Delhi;  March 10, 2015

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