Divorce Cases Must Ideally Be Closed Within A Year: Karnataka HC

The Karnataka High Court recently observed that trial courts should make all necessary efforts to try and dispose of matrimonial cases that plead for dissolution or nullification of marriage within an outer limit of one year.

Justice Krishna S. Dixit pointed out that matrimonial cases should be disposed of on a "war footing," considering the shortness of human life. He further explained that only when the divorce decree is granted will both parties be able to restructure their lives.

Divorce Cases To Be Closed In One Year

Considering that "life is lost in living," the bench opined that delaying the disposal of matrimonial cases would badly affect the parties involved.

The court was hearing a petition of N. Rajeev, who sought direction from the family court to dispose of the petition filed by him in 2016 seeking a divorce from his marriage, which lasted only for three months.

He argued that the right to speedy justice should be recognised as a constitutional guarantee under Article 21. The Karnataka High Court allowed the petition and directed the family court to dispose of the case, which has been dragged out for over seven years, within the next three months.

Further, the court ordered the registrar general to circulate the judgement to all concerned circles so that similar cases may not unnecessarily seek the help of the court seeking direction to get their matrimonial cases disposed of.

Much Needed For Women To Gain Freedom

This order by the high court is much needed considering how difficult it is, especially for women, to rebuild their lives after divorce. We live in a patriarchal society that pities divorced men and blames divorced women. The same society that calls divorced men "bechaaraa" also calls divorced women "besharam."

While divorced men are encouraged to remarry, move forward in life, and do things that they love to get over the past and move forward in life, divorced women are shamed, blamed, judged, and criticised by society. Women’s entire existence is tied to men. First, she is someone’s daughter, and then someone’s wife. Even if a woman has left a marriage, until divorce is granted, she continues to be labelled as someone's wife. This can be frustrating, as society insists on referring to her as such and even requires her to mention her husband's details in certain documents.

Also, when women are not legally separated yet, society vehemently persuades them to reconcile with their husbands, urging them to adjust and compromise for their children (if any), for their safety, for the family’s honour, and for so many other wrong reasons, because that’s what 'good women' do. All the unsolicited advice is potentially detrimental to women’s mental well-being.

So, without officially getting divorced, women aren’t able to move forward in life, both socially and legally. So, moving on emotionally will also make it impossible for them to get over the past and work on rebuilding a new life. It’s definitely impossible to get over the past when you’re still tied to it in some way. Also, most of the time, women are pushed to seek divorce only when they are truly unhappy and unsafe because living with the "divorced" tag in our society can be cruel.

Therefore, only when women legally obtain a divorce can, they truly free themselves from harassment by their spouse, family, and society. It is only then that they can close the doors on that chapter of their lives, focus on healing, and begin to rebuild their lives, a process that may take years. However, if they are continuously involved in court proceedings for several years, it becomes challenging to find the time and space to heal, gain true freedom, and move forward in life. In light of these considerations, the Karnataka High Court's observation is commendable!

Views expressed by the author are their own 

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Views expressed by the author are their own