Even if a couple has signed mutual consent terms, there has to be a six-month waiting or cooling period before a divorce is granted, the Bombay High Court has upheld recently. It was hearing an appeal filed by a woman, seeking time to reconsider her decision of divorce.
The family court had allowed divorce to the couple within five months of signing the consent terms. The woman challenged the family court order before the Bombay High Court.
“From the analysis of the Section (13B of the Hindu Marriage Act), it will be apparent that the filing of the petition with mutual consent does not authorise the court to make a decree for divorce. There is a period of waiting from 6 to 18 months. This interregnum was obviously intended to give time and opportunity to the parties to reflect on their move and seek advice from relations and friends.
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“In this transitional period one of the parties may have a second thought and change the mind not to proceed with the petition,” the Division Bench of Justices V.K. Tahilramani and A.R. Joshi observed.
The husband had sought divorce in the year 2013, on grounds of cruelty. The couple subsequently agreed for mediation, and drew mediation settlement terms on February 14, 2014. After the terms of settlement were agreed on, the husband filed an application seeking dissolving of marriage. It was granted by the family court on July 30, 2014.