Introduction
The Constitution of India, Article 142 gives power to the Supreme Court, to grant justice to the parties where the statute does not provide for a remedy. The Court in such situations can exercise its power under the said provision and it can decide the dispute by exercising its inherent power.
Exercise of discretionary powers by the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has exercised its powers time and again under Article 142 of the Constitution while imparting justice or to ensure that complete justice is done with the parties where there is no statutory remedy available.
Some of the instances are highlighted below wherein the Top Court has exercised its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to grant justice to the grieving parties in matrimonial disputes:
R Srinivas Kumar v. R Shametha, (2019) 9 SCC 409: In the instant case, the issue before the Top Court was that can it exercise its inherent powers under Article 142 of the Constitution for dissolution of a marriage. The Top Court while exercising its discretionary power annul a marriage of an estranged couple. The couple was residing separately for over two decades, the marriage was annulled by the Court mentioning that it was a case of irretrievable break down of wedlock. It was noted by the Top Court that all the efforts to continue the marriage have failed and hence, found no possibility of re-union because of the strained relations between the husband and wife.
Shilpa Sailesh v. Varun Sreenivasan, 2021 SCC OnLine SC 702: The Top Court opined that both the grounds of irretrievable breakdown of marriage and cruelty would favour granting divorce to the sufferer. A decree of divorce be passed not only in exercise of powers under Article 142 on account of irretrievable breakdown of marriage, however, it shall also be passed on account of cruelty u/s 13(1)(i-a) of the Act considering the subsequent conduct during the pendency of judicial proceedings at various stages. Hence, the Apex Court passed the decree of divorce and the marriage stood dissolved.
Quashing of criminal proceedings against husband: Recently, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India (Apex Court) exercised its power under Article 142 of the Constitution of India to dismiss criminal proceedings under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against a man, citing post-divorce harassment. The Apex Court quashed the FIR and subsequent criminal proceedings against the husband.
Brief facts of the case
The wife-initiated Section 498A proceedings against her former husband and his relatives, to cause her mental cruelty. The criminal proceedings were initiated by the wife after six months from getting a divorce decree.
The fact of the instant case is that the woman got married in November 1996, and a daughter was born to the couple in April 2001. The husband left the matrimonial home in April 2007 and soon thereafter, divorce proceedings were initiated by the wife. In April 2013, she was granted an ex-parte divorce and after six months of getting divorce, she filed a complaint under Section 498A against husband and his relatives, for mental cruelty.
An FIR was lodged and subsequently, the chargesheet was filed by the Delhi Police. The man approached the High Court of Delhi for quashing of criminal proceedings against him and his family. The plea was rejected by the High Court.
Observations of the Apex Court
The husband challenged the impugned order of the High Court before the Apex Court. The husband pointed out to the Court that his ex-wife also initiated proceedings under Protection of Women from Domestic Violence in 2008, i.e. after one year of him leaving the matrimonial home. The same was dismissed by the Trial Court on merits and she did not file an appeal against the said order.
The matter was heard by the bench comprising of Justices B V Nagarathna and Augustine G Masih. The bench noted that initiation of criminal proceedings under Section 498A against the husband and his family post six months of getting divorce is abuse of the criminal law. The Court further noted that the marriage was annulled through an order of a Family Court wherein it considered all the relevant facts.
Decision of the Court
The Apex Court quashed the criminal proceedings against the husband noting that that there is no point in keeping the differences between the husband-wife alive through criminal proceedings.
The Court stressed that initiation of criminal proceedings under Section 498A post-six months of divorce would cause the husband unnecessary harassment. The bench allowed the appeal of the husband and it set aside the order of the High Court by quashing the FIR lodged under Section 498A and quashed the criminal proceedings.
Conclusion
The Apex Court has passed a very balanced order by exercising its discretionary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution. The Hon’ble Court has pointed out that the Family Court granted divorce by considering all the relevant facts on record. It highlighted that a woman cannot misuse criminal laws by initiating criminal proceedings against her husband and his family after grant of divorce.
It further noted that criminal proceedings under Section 498A of the IPC was initiated against the husband and his relatives after six months of grant of divorce. Hence, the bench concluded that non-quashing of criminal proceedings against the husband would lead to post divorce harassment. Accordingly, the Court quashed the FIR and subsequent proceedings against the husband and his family.
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