6-month separation period invalid if husband and wife seek divorce by mutual consent: Rajasthan HC

The Rajasthan High Court in a significant decision has said that 'if a husband and wife seek divorce with mutual consent, six month separation period will not be valid.

The court was hearing a case on Thursday from Pratapgarh in which the Udaipur Family Court had fixed a six months separation period for divorce and had rejected the application for instant divorce. The High Court in its order clearly said in the case that it was not appropriate to give six months' time to the couple seeking divorce mutually.

In this case, an applicant Monika Sharma, a resident of Dhariyavad had filed a petition in the High Court stating that she is living separately from her husband, Rahul Sharma, a resident of Udaipur, since 2019.

Both of them had applied for divorce in the family court of Udaipur with mutual consent but were given six months' separation time.

"Both of us have been living separately since 2019. The appeal for hand-to-hand divorce was rejected by the family court," said Monica in her application while her counsel told the court that the Supreme Court had earlier removed the requirement of six months' separation in a case.

After hearing the arguments of both sides, Justice Dinesh Mehta said that this court ends the statutory period of separation for six months. Also, it ordered the Family Court that it can issue a decree of divorce in the case following the complete statutory decor.